With the last few legs of the organisational polls remaining, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Thursday made P. Palaniappan, Higher Education Minister, the fifth member of the party’s disciplinary committee.
The disciplinary committee was constituted in June 2013. Considered to be a simple and accessible person by partymen, the additional responsibility to the higher education minister shows the trust the party leader has in him, said a party MLA.
A staunch loyalist of Ms. Jayalalithaa from the time she became leader of the faction of the AIADMK after party founder MGR’s demise in the late 1980s, Mr. Palaniappan got his biggest break only after the 2011 Assembly elections when he was made the Higher Education Minister.
Despite being in-charge of the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency from where PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss won, his sincerity and hard work during the elections saved him, say party sources.
Instead, K.P. Munusamy, another party senior, was shown the door for not getting the caste votes, party sources add.
Cabinet post lost
Mr. Munusamy lost the Cabinet post and the disciplinary committee member post. Highways Minister Edapadi Palanisamy replaced him on the committee. The other three members are Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan and Housing Minister R. Vaithilingam.
While there have been many reshuffles, Mr. Palaniappan is one of those seniors who has retained his portfolio till now.
Now, he is grouped along with the top four in the party to ensure smooth conduct of party polls that will last till April-end.
The disciplinary committee was set up to deal with complaints against party members and make recommendations to Ms. Jayalalithaa.
P. Palaniappan, Higher Education Minister, is the fifth member of the panel
