The last time it had zero members in the Lok Sabha was after its disastrous tie-up with the BJP for the 2004 general election.
In happier times. AIADMK MPs during a protest outside Parliament. (Twitter)
The operation to decimate the entire faction of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam, also known as OPS, in the AIADMK is in full swing.
In his latest move, new interim general secretary Edappadi Palaniswamy wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla asking him not to treat OP Ravindranath, who is the son of OPS, as an AIADMK member anymore as he had been expelled for anti-party activities.
“Being a lone member of the party in Lok Sabha, doesn’t give OP Ravindranath the right to indulge in anti-party activities. He was praising and shaking hands with our rival, and he was also part of the group that vandalised our party office,” said Kovai Sathyan, AIADMK spokesperson.
If the Speaker of the Lok Sabha rules in favour of EPS, the AIADMK will have no representation in the Lok Sabha — a throwback to the situation that prevailed just twice before in the party’s 50-year history.
Once, after the political experiment of AIADMK joining forces with the BJP in 2004 failed miserably, netting the alliance not even one seat in the election. So miffed was the BJP with the result that it terminated the alliance days after the election.
And before that in 1996, when all 39 seats were swept by the newly-minted alliance between the DMK and the Tamil Maanila Congress of GK Moopanar — who had himself left the Congress as he was irked over the party’s decision to align with the AIADMK.
"Victory and defeat are normal in public life. AIADMK will bounce back to its old glory in the next election. The decision to remove him was warranted," Sathyan told South First.
EPS wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday soon after the Madras High Court issued orders granting the possession of the AIADMK office building to him.
The office building, MGR Maaligai, was sealed following violence on July 11. The violence occurred when the executive and the general council of the AIADMK appointed EPS as its interim general secretary.
The meeting also scrapped coordinator and joint coordinator posts held by OPS and EPS, respectively, till then. Rubbing salt into the injury, EPS expelled OPS from the party's primary membership.
Expelled AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala also condemned the move to have Ravindranath removed as party MP.
"Removal of the lone MP who can represent the AIADMK in Lok Sabha is an unjustified act.," Sasikala said in a statement on Friday, 22 July.
"Party workers will not accept any action that will prevent the lone AIADMK MP in Lok Sabha from discharging his duties. Certain individuals want to take away positions of others, even at the cost of destroying the party... Their true colours are getting exposed now," the statement read.
In an obvious reference to EPS, she said: "The decisions taken by these individuals, which are against the interests of the party, has resulted in number of AIADMK MPs coming down in both houses of parliament. We have also lost our recognition due to their actions."
Enraged over the action of EPS, OPS faction leader Pugazhenthi, who too has been thrown out of the party, told South First: "Of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in TN, the AIADMK had won only one in the last general election. That way at least the party had some representation in the Lower House to espouse the policies of Amma (Jayalalithaa)."
"But EPS, who was vengeful of OPS, has written this letter. If the Speaker recognises Ravindranathan as an independent member, nothing is going to happen to him. Only the party suffers," he added.
The allegations levelled against OPS and his faction when they were expelled form the party were that they were working against the interests of the party by aligning with the ruling DMK. As evidence, the party referred to the OPS faction praising DMK's dispensation with an intention to run down the AIADMK.
EPS also expelled Jaya Pradeep, another son of OPS, and former minister Vellamandi N Natarajan.
In fact, recently, when NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu (who is now President-elect) visited Chennai, both the factions met her separately and pledged their support to her in the election which only exposed how deep the schism was in the party.
(With inputs from Shilpa Nair in Chennai)
