Now Reading: AIADMK leaders blame Palaniswami for poll losses, demand reinstatement
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AIADMK leaders blame Palaniswami for poll losses, demand reinstatement
Senior AIADMK leaders Natham R Viswanathan and SP Velumani on Sunday blamed general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for the party's defeats in the 2021 and 2026 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok…
The Story in Brief
Senior AIADMK leaders Natham R Viswanathan and SP Velumani on Sunday blamed general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for the party's defeats in the 2021 and 2026 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, attributing the losses to flawed strategies. In a joint statement, they urged Palaniswami to reinstate over 400 functionaries removed after the 2026 Assembly election and called for the return of expelled leaders VK Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran to strengthen the party ahead of the 2031 Assembly election.
Viswanathan and Velumani charged that Palaniswami's unilateral decisions cost the party alliances, including with the BJP, PMK, DMDK, and TVK, and forced 25 of the AIADMK's 47 MLAs to adopt an anti-DMK position. The New Indian Express reports the two leaders rejected the post of deputy general secretary offered by Palaniswami and signed the statement as MLAs. Times Now notes Velumani had earlier rebelled, backed the ruling TVK government, and later returned to the party fold.
The Indian Opinion
The AIADMK's internal feud is presented as a clash of personalities, but the core dispute is about who gets to decide alliances and who holds party posts after successive electoral routs. The narrative that Palaniswami alone is to blame overlooks the party's structural problem: a leadership vacuum after Jayalalithaa's death and no clear succession. Velumani and Viswanathan offer no new policy direction, only a demand to bring back Sasikala and Dhinakaran, both previously expelled. The test for the AIADMK is not which faction wins, but whether it can produce a credible platform beyond the next bypoll: what does it stand for?
Sources (2): newindianexpress.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
