EPS Appoints S P Velumani and Natham Viswanathan as AIADMK Deputy General Secretaries

On Thursday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a major organizational shake-up in Chennai, appointing Natham R Viswanathan and S P Velumani as the party's new deputy general secretaries. The high-level appointments mark a significant reconciliation effort within the party, aiming to consolidate its leadership ranks and prevent administrative defections to the rival TVK party.

Alongside the top appointments, Palaniswami named Varasur A Arunachalam as the AIADMK headquarters secretary. The restructuring also saw the return of several senior leaders who had previously fallen out of favor with the party leadership. Senior functionaries P Thangamani, K P Anbazhagan, R Kamaraj, and K C Veeramani have all been appointed as headquarters secretaries. These leaders had their party postings stripped after they revolted against Palaniswami following the state assembly elections, but they have since patched up their differences with the general secretary.

According to AIADMK party members, this extensive reshuffling serves a dual purpose. While it acts as a crucial reconciliation exercise to bring former rebels back into key roles, it is also strategically aimed at arresting any further exodus of party functionaries to the TVK.

As part of these preventive measures, Palaniswami took swift action against supporters of former minister C Vijayabaskar, who are reportedly preparing to defect and join the TVK next week. Palaniswami removed these supporters from their party roles and replaced them with new office bearers in the Pudukottai district.

In addition to the leadership appointments, the AIADMK general secretary restructured several local administrative units across the state. The reorganization covered multiple regions, including Tirupatur Urban, Tirupatur Rural, Coimbatore Urban-South, Trichy Rural-South, Thanjavur-Central, Pudukkottai North, and Pudukkottai South. Through this restructuring, Palaniswami created 26 new district units and appointed new district secretaries to oversee them, streamlining the party's local administration ahead of future political challenges.