On 20 August, the AIADMK has decided to hold its state conference in Madurai. The first one after Edappadi K. Palaniswami, popularly known as EPS, became the general secretary of the party.
On Sunday, the decision was taken after a resolution was passed at the executive committee of the party held in Chennai. This will also be the first meeting of the AIADMK after EPS became the general secretary of AIADMK, triumphing over the internal battle with O Panneerselvam or OPS.
In the decision of the executive committee, it was said that M G Ramachandran and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had “charted history by holding mega conferences in places like Tirunelveli and Trichy,” and that the Madurai conference will likewise be a “turning point for AIADMK.”
Detractors said that the AIADMK had suffered in Tamil Nadu’s southern districts as a result of the removal of OPS, a southern Tamil native. According to an AIADMK insider, they hope to refute this narrative by having a state convention in Madurai.
Another resolution approved by the executive committee made a passing allusion to OPS and his group. “The party under the leadership of EPS should teach a lesson to traitors who have a clandestine link with DMK,” the resolution reads.
Some resolutions passed in the executive committee criticise DMK and its state government. Those resolutions alleged among other things law and order breakdown in Tamil Nadu under the DMK government, registering false cases against AIADMK workers, DMK not implementing election promises and DMK undermining state assembly conventions.
The State conference also called upon the DMK government to “impress upon the Centre to implement Cauvery – Godavari river link project and Nadanthai Vazhi Cauvery project.”
AIADMK state conference also decided to set up booth committees quickly across the state for strengthening the party at grass root ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.