Edappadi K. Palaniswami will be the ruling party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK’s) chief ministerial candidate for the Tamil Nadu elections slated to be held next year.
The party’s decision was announced by Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O. Pannerselvam on Wednesday after weeks of negotiations and speculations.
“I am happy to announce that our dear brother Palaniswami will be the victorious Chief Ministerial candidate of the AIADMK for the 2021 Assembly elections,” said Panneerselvam.
The AIADMK had constituted an 11-member steering committee that would oversee the election campaign and party affairs, which was one of the key demands of O Pannerselvam (OPS) when the two factions of the party emerged after the death of J Jayalalithaa, the former AIADMK chief and Chief Minister in 2016.
The party had faced a major crisis as the two camps, one led by Palaniswami and the other by OPS emerged, that fought for the top post. This happened after OPS rebelled against former AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala.
The AIADMK leadership had met on Monday at the party headquarters but failed to reach a consensus over the CM candidate. However, after talks and deliberations, AIADMK has decided that E Palaniswami will be party’s chief ministerial candidate.