Even as AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is scheduled to hold discussions with the party’s district secretaries in Chennai on Tuesday, the focus turns to the eventual outcome of the intra-party tussle between his camp and the rebels led by former Ministers S.P. Velumani and C.Ve. Shanmugam.

A cross-section of the party functionaries feels that Mr. Palaniswami should follow up on his earlier statement (calling upon the dissidents to agree to talks) with a forceful appeal for reunification at the meeting. Otherwise, his call will be termed an empty appeal, the office-bearers say, adding that the two groups should make earnest efforts to bring the dispute to an end.

Infighting for 10 years

“For nearly 10 years, we have been indulging in infighting, instead of fighting our traditional adversary, the DMK. Perhaps, because of the differences among our leaders, the people have concluded that the AIADMK is not the right party to oppose the DMK,” says a long-standing office-bearer, who is a district secretary in the northern part of Tamil Nadu. He attributes the rise of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to the “vacuum” created by his party on account of the infighting.

Another office-bearer says that “against all odds”, the party has performed reasonably well in the Assembly election, though some opinion and exit polls had predicted that it would do badly. Referring to the AIADMK’s performance vis-à-vis the DMK and the TVK, this district secretary points out that wherever the party finished third, its performance was better in areas where the DMK bagged the seats. For example, in over 70% of the constituencies (13 out of 18 constituencies) where the party was the runner-up, with the DMK being the winner, the AIADMK had netted at least 30% of the votes polled. But, wherever the TVK was the winner, the party could exceed the 30% mark only in 60% of the seats (15 out of 25). A similar trend can be seen where the AIADMK finished third, after the TVK and the DMK. “What one can infer from these findings is that the party’s vote base has been eroded more by the TVK than by the DMK,” the district secretary says.

Petitions with Speaker

Tuesday’s meeting is being held in the wake of Mr. Palaniswami removing 28 district secretaries and filling the vacancies caused by the dismissal. While the two camps have been holding deliberations on the next course of action, Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar has not yet taken action on the petitions for disqualification of legislators of the other camp. The Speaker told The Hindu on Monday: “They are under my consideration, and a decision will be taken at an appropriate time.”