Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: OPS decides to operate under a new name
Tamil Nadu: A meeting of supporters chaired by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in Chennai decided that the AIADMK Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee would now function under the name Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Expelled from the AIADMK, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam has formed the AIADMK Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee and is serving as its coordinator. Despite attempts by BJP leaders and others to include him in the AIADMK, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami refused. This led to speculation that O. Panneerselvam would launch his own party. Meanwhile, his supporter Manoj Pandian, MLA, and others recently joined the DMK.
In this context, a meeting of the district secretaries of the AIADMK Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee was held in Vepery, Chennai on Monday. Speaking at the meeting, R. Vaithilingam, deputy coordinator of the committee and former minister, said that O. Panneerselvam has been waging a silent revolution to unite the AIADMK for the past three and a half years. He added that O. Panneerselvam has been authorized to decide on the political stance of the AIADMK Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Speaking further, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam said that the AIADMK has now lost the trust of the people. The party’s consecutive defeats have disappointed the volunteers. Furthermore, the Working Committee and General Committee meetings have not been convened in accordance with party rules, eroding the volunteers’ confidence. Therefore, Edappadi Palaniswami should take a decision on uniting the party by December 15th. If this does not happen, the Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee will meet on December 15th and make a crucial decision. He stated that this decision will be based on the wishes of the volunteers and the people.
Resolutions were passed at the meeting, including that the AIADMK Volunteers’ Rights Recovery Committee would henceforth function as the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Senior leader Panrutti Ramachandran and several others attended the meeting.
