OPS was adamant not to give up his post, says EPS

CHENNAI: After being unanimously elected as AIADMK's interim general secretary, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that despite several party cadres' requests, O Panneerselvam was "adamant" about having dual leadership in the party.

In his address to the party's general council members, he said all the cadres were interested in single leadership. I suffered a lot and underwent sacrifices due to the dual leadership, EPS claimed.

Charging Panneerselvam that he was acting in a selfish manner, Palaniswami alleged that the former did not want to give up his post at any cost.

"He (Panneerselvam) never wanted to give up his post. He has two faces. One is acting in front of the public as if he was loyal to "Amma" (late Jayalalithaa) and second, he is different within the party,” the AIADMK leader said.

Palaniswami said if Panneerselvam was loyal to Jayalalithaa, he along with anti-social elements would have not behaved in such a way in the party headquarters. "He has also taken away the laptop from the headquarters,” he said questioning his loyalty.

The AIADMK interim general secretary also alleged that Panneerselvam has a relationship with DMK to weaken the AIADMK. "He (Panneerselvam) is going out of the way,” he said.

Stating that Panneerselvam was duly invited to attend the party's general council meeting, Palaniswami said instead he went to the party head office.

Levelling charges against ruling DMK:

Claiming that during the past 12 months after coming to power people have not been benefited, Palaniswami said that the law and order situation has deteriorated. "When "Amma" (Jayalalithaa) was in power, the law and order was under control,” he said.

He also pointed out that online gambling games have affected several people and still the government has not taken any steps to stop it. Stating that the DMK first family is running the government, EPS said that the commission, corruption and collection had seeped in to the state government departments. EPS also pointed out that the DMK government has increased the property tax, affecting the common man.