'Edappadi' K. Palaniswami was on Tuesday elected the AIADMK legislature party leader. The development comes on day when V.K. Sasikala, the general secretary of the party, was convicted in a disproportionate assets case. The verdict has meant that she cannot contest elections for the next 10 years.
In the case of a floor test in the Assembly, Mr. Palaniswami would lead the party and need to prove his majority against Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to form the government.
Sasikala was "unanimously" elected leader of the Legislature Party at a meeting in the party headquarters on February 5, exactly two months after former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death.
Mr. Palanisamy tasted success in his maiden attempt as an AIADMK candidate in the 1989 polls and retained it in the next elections. The AIADMK fielded him again in the 2006 elections, but he suffered defeat at the hands of PMK nominee V. Kavery. He won the seat for the third time in 2011, to become a member of the Jayalalithaa Cabinet.
In a related development, Mr. Panneerselvam was removed from the primary membership of the party.
