Tamil Nadu's principal opposition party AIADMK on Friday passed a resolution at its emergent executive committee meeting to stand firmly with the party's general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. It also resolved to stand by the decisions and strategies devised by Palaniswami and fight the 2026 Assembly polls.
"The Executive Committee resolves to stand by the decisions and strategies devised by Edappadi K. Palaniswami to register a victory in the 2026 Assembly polls that will see the party getting yet another chance to rule the state. The committee also reposes faith in Palaniswami that he will cobble up the best coalition using his political acumen,” the resolution read.
The executive committee also criticised the ruling DMK for failing to address the Law and Order issues and people’s welfare.
The resolution assumes significance at a time when there have been voices within the party to reunite and bring back the expelled leaders like O. Panneerselvam, V.K. Sasikala and T.T.V. Dhinakaran into the party. In July, when the party was analysing the reasons for the election debacle, at least six former ministers called on Palanisami at his residence in Salem and insisted on reinducting the expelled leaders.
Party insiders say that there have been strong voices within the party to increase the number of party districts from the existing 82 to more than 100. While a few of the district secretaries have agreed to this idea proposed by Palaniswami, the powerful seniors in the party who are considered close to him have not expressed their thoughts on increasing the number.
Earlier in 2023 at least 14 districts were bifurcated and the number went up to 82 from 68. The zonal-level office bearer position in the information technology wing was also abolished by the party in 2023.
Despite the changes made in 2023, the party list deposits in at least 11 assembly segments and polled around 89,000 votes much less than the two crore members in the party. The 2026 general election to the assembly is crucial for the AIADMK to resurrect itself and come back to power. It remains to be seen if Palaniswami will devise strategies and ensure that the party comes back to power.