Edappadi K. Palaniswami. File

The meeting of AIADMK’s district secretaries, slated for November 6, may not touch upon the matter of the party’s approach towards the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), headed by film actor Vijay. 

It was only on October 27 that Mr. Vijay, during his party’s inaugural State-level conference in Vikravandi of Villupuram district, indirectly attacked the ruling BJP and the DMK but left out any criticism on the AIADMK.  Since then, there has been talk in political circles about whether the AIADMK and the TVK would come together for the 2026 Assembly poll. Two days after the TVK’s meet, the Dravidian major’s general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, in his interaction with the media, refused to get drawn into any debate on the issue, even though he sounded conciliatory towards Mr. Vijay. 

A cross-section of functionaries in the AIADMK is of the view that the scheduled meeting of the district secretaries will, in all likelihood, be a prelude to the general council meeting, which may take place next month.  Maybe, the matter of organisational elections will be discussed on Wednesday and there is a view that the process of party polls should be completed even before the general council holds its customary meeting.  In such an event, Mr. Palaniswami will be able to consolidate further his hold over the party, some of the office- bearers say.  

The last meeting of the general council took place on December 26, 2023. Even though Rule 30 (ii) says that “elections to the office-bearers for the party units shall be held once in every five years”, a section of the functionaries say that there is no bar on holding the inner party elections before the five-year period. In the case of the AIADMK, the organisational polls were over by the end of April 2022. 

As regards the party’s approach towards the TVK, spokespersons have been advised not to comment on how Mr. Vijay will span out his political journey.  “It is still too early for us to say anything on him” — is the refrain of the AIADMK’s functionaries, some of whom think that the party to make its move cautiously given the fact that the TVK is an untested force.