Chennai, June 5 (BPNS)
After a heavy drubbing in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK leadership will have to introspect on bringing in former senior leaders of the party who were expelled from the party.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, AIADMK had won the Theni Lok Sabha seat but in 2024 it drew a blank and for the party which had ruled Tamil Nadu continuously for ten years from 2011 to 2021 it is a shocker.
While AIADMK and BJP were in alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 assembly polls, the two snapped ties with the AIADMK announcing it on September 25 ,2023.
It may be recalled that in the 2021 assembly elections, AIADMK had garnered 33.29 % votes but in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party could get only 20.47 % votes which is considered as a major failure on the part of the present leadership of the AIADMK led by Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS).
Senior leader of the breakaway faction of the AIADMK and sitting MLA JCD Prabhakar has openly called for all the leaders of the AIADMK to unite and to work for the ideals put forward by the iconic party leader and former Chief Minister, late M.G. Ramachandran (MGR).
It may be recalled that the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam (OPS) who was the party co-ordinator was expelled on 11 July 2022 from the AIADMK.
AIADMK former interim general secretary and close aide of late Chief Minister, V.K. Shashikala and her nephew and former MP, TTV Dhinakaran were also expelled from the party earlier.
The party cadres now want all the senior leaders who were expelled back to the AIADMK to put up a united fight in the 2026 assembly election and to win the state elections.
R. Pandiarajan, a businessman from Coimbatore and an AIADMK worker while speaking to BPNS said ,” The time of unity is now , OPS, V.K. Shashikala and TTV Dhinakaran must come back to the party as well as all other leaders who have left or expelled from the party. The drubbing we faced in this election is a clear indicator that without unity AIADMK will not go ahead. We want our leadership to make few compromises and bring back OPS and other leaders and wrest the 2026 assembly elections from the DMK led front.”
In many areas of Tamil Nadu AIADMK cadres have commenced the call for unity among the leaders and to bring back all those leaders who have left the party.
Karthikeyan.K.L. ,AIADMK town leader in Theni while speaking to BPNS said, “ We won the Theni Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and we lost it this time. The seat was won by P. Raveendranathan son of O. Panneerselvam but after OPS was expelled the Thevar vote bank that is crucial for the victory in south Tamil Nadu has ditched the AIADMK. The leaders must be brought back to the AIADMK and get the party machinery rolling for the 2026 assembly elections.”
