CHENNAI: Amid desertions, another rebellion has raised its head again in AIADMK. Several former ministers and senior functionaries on Tuesday rejected the posts party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had offered as truce, multiple sources told TOI.The functionaries sent a letter to EPS expressing displeasure over his style of functioning. The signatories included former ministers Natham R Viswanathan, S P Velumani, P Thangamani, K P Anbalagan, K C Veeramani and P Balakrishna Reddy, and Bhuvanagiri MLA A Arunmozhithevan.“In the letter, the rebels alleged that the leadership was not accommodative and was not giving due respect to senior members. They are upset with Palaniswami’s unilateral decision not to restore them to their earlier positions as district secretaries, despite his promise,” a senior leader said on condition of anonymity.On Tuesday, a recent video of Velumani addressing his supporters in Coimbatore surfaced, in which he said he would not accept any post while his supporters were left in the lurch. EPS had removed 26 functionaries, including 12 MLAs, from the post of district secretary after the MLAs supported the TVK govt during the no-confidence motion on May 13.Party insiders said the rebels took up the matter with the BJP national leadership as well. “The issue of not restoring their positions was raised in Delhi. But Palaniswami kept delaying the restoration of posts from June 4 to June 14. On June 28, he offered posts such as deputy general secretary to Natham Viswanathan and Velumani, while the others were made organising secretaries or propaganda joint secretaries. This is not acceptable,” a rebel functionary said.Former minister and Mailam MLA C Ve Shanmugam, who led the rebels along with Velumani, was not included in the list of appointments made on June 28. “Palaniswami has been undermining colleagues, which does not befit the position he holds. His actions are driven by self-interest. During earlier mergers in 1989 and 2017, the party leadership restored the positions of functionaries,” a former minister said. The rebels also accused Palaniswami of adopting a “divide and rule” approach by appointing rivals of former ministers as new district secretaries.
