INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
An executive meeting of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK) in Chennai on Monday turned out to be stormy with the
leadership question casting a shadow as party deliberated the chief minister's face for the Assembly elections slated to take place next
year.After a five-hour-long meeting, AIADMK announced that the chief ministerial candidate for the 2021 elections would be declared on
October 7.Party deputy coordinator KP Munusamy said the chief ministerial candidate would be made known by top AIADMK leaders O
Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami.The meeting discussed at length the question of whether Palaniswami or Panneerselvam should be the chief
ministerial candidate, party sources told news agency PTI, adding it was finally decided that a formal announcement shall be made next
month.In the meeting, competing claims -backed by past events in the party- were reportedly made by both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam to
stake claim for being the AIADMK's chief minister nominee for polls next year, sources said.Palaniswami reportedly said that he has been
providing good governance in Tamil Nadu which has won appreciation from even Prime Minister Narendra Modi to buttress his claim for the
post.Significantly, the party adopted a resolution to work hard unitedly "like brothers" to recapture power for a record third time.As the
party office-bearers arrived for the meet, a section of cadres at the entrance of party headquarters waved pictures of Palaniswami and
others wore "Panneerselvam mask."The meet, chaired by presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan, is the first such high-level gathering after a
recent "poster row" in which supporters of both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami wanted their respective leaders to be the AIADMK's chief
ministerial candidate for 2021 polls.Recently, the two top leaders had issued a gag order, asking the cadres and leaders not to air views
publicly on the issue of chief ministerial candidate after divergent opinions emerged.Munusamy, who was flanked by senior leaders KA
Sengottaiyan, R Vaithilingam and S P Velumani, also said the executive committee passed as many as 15 resolutions.In separate resolutions,
the party asked the Centre to release the pending GST compensation to Tamil Nadu and scrap the National Eligibility cum Entrance
Test.Pledging its commitment to the two language formula, the party also reiterated its opposition to Karnataka's dam proposal across the
river Cauvery at Mekedatu.(With PTI inputs)
