Twin trouble: On the rumble in the AIADMK.. Faithful

Marching towards its golden jubilee, the AIADMK has dumped its five-year experiment with dual leadership and expelled O. Panneerselvam, one of its charioteers. Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a former accidental Chief Minister with a strong political survival instinct, will now steer the party as its interim general secretary. In 2017, when a three-way split threatened his fledgling government, he prudently accepted a BJP-facilitated arrangement in which he and Mr. Panneerselvam would share equal organisational powers. Sensing such shared leadership requiring disproportionate compromises had outlived its purpose, Mr. Palaniswami plotted its dismantling. Having earned the trust of legislators during his regime through a “decentralisation of resources”, he adopted the same strategy to fortify his party base. Steadfastly opposing attempts by Jayalalithaa’s friend V.K. Sasikala to regain control of the AIADMK; maintaining social distance with the ruling DMK; and not ceding much ground to the BJP during seat-sharing negotiations, worked to his advantage. In contrast, Mr. Panneerselvam came across as someone reluctant to fund party colleagues; deliberately maintaining ambiguity on Ms. Sasikala’s position; overtly inclined to do the BJP’s bidding, and extending cordiality to DMK leaders. Many prominent leaders, who stood by him during his ‘ Dharma Yudham’ against Ms. Sasikala, feeling alienated, switched camps.