CHENNAI: Realising that the rift over backing the TVK government has escalated into a serious challenge to his position as the party supremo, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami directed the members of the general council not to support the efforts by the rebel faction led by C Ve Shanmugam and SP Velumani to convene an emergency meeting of the party's key decision-making body.
Though the rebel leaders put up a brave face, all 25 MLAs, including them, face the risk of getting disqualified for voting in favour of the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay against the party leadership’s directive. One way to avert it is to capture the party through the general council, which can be convened by the general secretary, presidium chairman, or if one-fifth of the 2,646-member council raise the demand for an emergency meeting.
With the Shanmugam faction beginning to collect signatures from general council members to requisition an emergency meeting of the party's apex decision-making body, Palaniswami held a meeting with the senior functionaries at his Greenways Road residence and issued the direction to not support the rebels’ plan.
Sources said Palaniswami told office-bearers and general council members not to sign any document if approached by members of the rival faction seeking consent for the proposed meeting.
The meeting at Palaniswami's residence is also learnt to have discussed the developments following reports of rebel leaders securing berths in the TVK government, and the possible course of action to be adopted.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Villupuram after Shanmugam loyalists and those backing newly appointed district secretary Pasupathi sought control of the local AIADMK office. Police intervened and locked the premises to prevent any untoward incident.
Similar disputes over control of party offices had earlier surfaced in the strongholds of expelled functionaries, including former minister C Vijayabaskar in Pudukkottai and SP Velumani in Coimbatore.