Defiant OPS names 14 as district secys

CHENNAI: O Panneerselvam, leading the rebel AIADMK camp on Sunday named over a dozen ‘district secretaries,’ including Rajya Sabha MP R Dharmar and former legislators.

The appointees include VNP Venkatraman (Chennai suburban district) and Kovai K Selvaraj (Coimbatore district), both former MLAs and Dharmar (Ramanathapuram district), who was among the 6 candidates elected unopposed last month to the Upper House from Tamil Nadu.

In total 14 party men were appointed as ‘district secretaries’ by Panneerselvam on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the rebel AIADMK leader Panneerselvam, who tested positive for Covid recently, was reportedly discharged from a hospital here.

Panneerselvam, OPS as he is known popularly, was expelled from the party recently and he was also relieved of his post of party treasurer.

The AIADMK, led by interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, has also removed Panneerselvam from his position of Deputy Leader in the Assembly.

Representation in this regard has been sent to Speaker M Appavu by the AIADMK and OPS has staunchly opposed changes to the composition in the legislature party already.

The matter is before the Speaker.

OPS maintains that he is the party coordinator and treasurer and related matters are before the Election Commission and court.