AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday (October 15, 2024) announced that the party’s Kanniyakumari (West) district unit secretary, D. John Thankam, would function as the point person for the Kanniyakumari (East) district unit too.
This followed Mr. Palaniswami’s decision last week to “relieve temporarily” AIADMK Kanniyakumari (East) district secretary N. Thalavai Sundaram of the posts of district secretary and organisation secretary. The action against the former Minister was said to have been taken after he flagged off a rally organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh two weeks ago.
In the last 10 years, Mr. Thankam, 55, lost in elections twice. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he finished third in Kanniyakumari, polling about 1.76 lakh votes and 17.8% of the votes polled. In the 2021 Assembly election, he lost to the ruling DMK’s T. Mano Thangaraj in Padmanabhapuram. Mr. Thangaraj, who was recently dropped from the Cabinet, defeated Mr. Thankam by about 27,000 votes.
Meeting put off
Citing the heavy rain, the AIADMK put off a public meeting to be addressed by Mr Palaniswami in Kancheepuram on the occasion of the party’s 53rd formation day. Recalling the contributions of his predecessors to the growth of the party, Mr. Palaniswami said in a statement that regardless of opposition from any number of forces, no one could prevent the party from returning to power in 2026. “For this, I am prepared to do any amount of sacrifice,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ADMK workers’ rights’ retrieval committee coordinator, O. Panneerselvam, would garland the statue of AIADMK founder and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran on Anna Salai in the city on Thursday.
The former interim general secretary of the AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala, referred to the heavy rain forecast for the next few days in many districts of the State and urged her followers to celebrate the party formation day in their places instead of visiting Chennai.
Published – October 16, 2024 08:05 am IST
