West Elects its Leader, South in Trouble
Palaniswamy’s victory could be read in contrast with the performance of O Panneerselvam, who won the Bodinayakanur seat by 12,154 votes. “It was a tough fight for OPS because southern Tamil Nadu, from where he contested, has supported DMK this year,” a political observer close to AIADMK told The Quint
The emergence of Palaniswamy as a likely party chief from among the leaders of the AIADMK has come as a relief for the party which has been marred by faction fights ever since the demise of the party’s leader and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
The factionalism started with the rise of Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala to the rank of AIADMK general secretary. While Sasikala had to step down from this role in 2017, Edappadi Palaniswamy (EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS) had continued to lead the western and the southern Gounder caste factions of AIADMK.
The faction war between them, however, saw an amicable temporary truce,…