Madras HC Anoints EPS as AIADMK's Top Leader, Rules in Favour of Unitary Leadership

New Delhi: The Madras high court on Friday, September 2, restored the unitary leadership of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) under Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS).

In effect, the latest ruling by a two-judge bench overturned the earlier August 17 judgment by a single judge who had ruled in favour of dual leadership of AIADMK shared between Palanswami and his rival O. Pannerselvam (OPS). Justice G. Jayachandran had then ruled the July 11 General Council meeting of the AIADMK – which anointed Palanswami as the sole leader of the party – "invalid".

However, the division bench of Justice M. Duraiswamy and Justice Sundar Mohan on Friday, September 1, set aside the order of Justice G. Jayachandran.

The leadership tussle between EPS and OPS has been brewing for some time, with the former’s supporters aggressively pushing for single leadership. The divergence on the leadership question has been resulting in both camps vying with each other to move courts to get a ruling in their favour.

As The Wire reported earlier, the concept of unitary leadership goes against the dual power-sharing arrangement agreed upon between EPS and OPS factions after the death of party supremo J. Jayalalithaa in December 2016.

In the contentious July 11 meeting of the General Council – which is the party's highest decision-making body – AIADMK 'expelled' OPS and some of his associates from the party amid the leadership tussle. It handpicked Palaniswami as the interim general secretary of the party, finishing off the power-sharing arrangement between the EPS and OPS factions. Another meeting by the General Council on July 23 underscored the same unitary leadership formula, under Palaniswami.

When Jayalalithaa was convicted of corruption charges, forcing her to step down as chief minister, she hand-picked OPS twice to stand-in for her. Although OPS was made chief minister the third time before Jayalalithaa passed away, Jayalalithaa’s aide V.K. Sasikala, who briefly took over the party, replaced him with EPS after he rebelled against her.

After Sasikala went to jail for corruption, both OPS and EPS worked out a rapprochement deal and expelled Sasikala. Both then agreed to the dual leadership formula, which is now being undermined by the EPS faction.

(With PTI inputs)