The meeting will be held in Chennai.
With the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections slated to be held in the next few months, the ruling AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) has called a meeting of its General Council and Executive Committee on January 9. The members willing to attend the meeting shall have a COVID-19 negative test report to enter the venue.
The meeting was called by AIADMK’s Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) and Joint Coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) towards the end of last month. The meeting, scheduled to start at 8:50 am at Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace at Vanagaram near Chennai, is expected to delegate the power to decide on the electoral alliance to the party’s two leaders — Panneerselvam and Palaniswami, apart from deliberating on other matters.
The meeting is expected to bear significance as VK Sasikala, a longtime aide of former Chief Minister and AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa is expected to be released from prison by January end. Sasikala was ousted by the erstwhile AIADMK leadership after the two factions of the party — led by O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami — created after the demise of Jayalalithaa decided to reconcile. Sasikala is currently serving her sentence on the Disproportionate Assets case in the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru. The AIADMK has consistently maintained that Sasikala’s arrival will not have any impact on the party.
The members of the two bodies have to reach the meeting venue with their report after getting their tests done for the coronavirus, while wearing masks and following social distancing norms, the AIADMK said. The meeting would be presided over by the party Presidium Chairman E Madhusudhanan, the party communique added.
The AIADMK, DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and MNM (Makkal Needhi Maiam) have already started their election campaigning for the forthcoming state Assembly elections.
(With IANS inputs)
Source: The News Minute