AIADMK Feud: EPS Appeals Against Madras High Court's Order in Favour of OPS

The court had invalidated the move to make Edappadi Palaniswami the chief of the AIADMK in its verdict on Wednesday.

O Paneerselvam (left) and E Palaniswami. 

(Photo: Namita Chauhan/The Quint)

Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) on Thursday, 18 August, filed an appeal against the Madras High Court's order in favour of O Panneerselvam (OPS), which had invalidated the move to make EPS the party chief during a general council meeting of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on 11 July.

Senior Counsel Vijay Narayan, who was representing EPS, called for an urgent hearing of the appeal, which the court agreed to take up on Monday if the Registry numbers the appeal by Thursday afternoon.

In his plea, EPS claimed that the single judge bench of the Madras High Court completely ignored the fact that the posts of the coordinator and joint coordinator of the party had lapsed and hence under no circumstances could they jointly act to convene a meeting of the executive council or general council as directed by the judge.

Following the verdict, OPS called on all leaders of the AIADMK, including Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran, to work together again.

"We should all forget the bitter past and move ahead in interest of the party," he had said while addressing a press conference.

The general council, the AIADMK's highest decision-making body, had "expelled" OPS and some of his supporters from the party amid a leadership tussle between him and EPS. Subsequently, the latter was chosen as the party's general secretary.

'Everyone Accepted Me as CM Face Except OPS': Palaniswami

EPS, however, alleged that when OPS was invited for the general council meeting, he came with "rowdies."

"When we invited O Panneerselvam for the General Council meeting, he didn't attend and came with rowdies to Party HQ. How can we unite with him? Members of his family and he need a position in the party. So he invited me to unite AIADMK," EPS was reported as saying by news agency ANI.

He also said that in the last assembly elections held in Tamil Nadu, in which the AIADMK was defeated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), everybody in the party, except OPS, had accepted him as the chief ministerial candidate.

"During the last elections, everyone accepted me as the CM candidate of AIADMK but O Panneerselvam didn't accept that. Due to this, we lost that election by a difference of 3 percent votes," EPS added.

The HC's Verdict

In its verdict on Wednesday over the AIADMK's leadership tussle, the Madras High Court had invalidated the move to make EPS the chief of the AIADMK and ordered the status quo as was prevalent on 23 June.

Hailing the verdict as "historic," OPS said that his faction would welcome all those who wished to join them.

"This is a historical judgment. We got full victory because of this judgment. If anyone comes forward to join us, we'll welcome them. AIADMK cadre's wishes came true. We will respect and act in accordance with the High Court judgment," he said.

OPS also said that there was no place for dictatorship in the AIADMK and that everyone must unite once again under the party's banner.

"There is no place for dictatorship in party. All should unite and those who left the party must return. Sacrifice and patience are qualities a leader must possess. If needed, we'll discuss (on unison of OPS and EPS), party cadres will not change," the leader added.

(With inputs from ANI.)