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

In a major political development in Chennai on Thursday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a sweeping organizational restructure of the party. As part of this significant leadership overhaul, Palaniswami appointed S P Velumani and Natham R Viswanathan as the new party deputy general secretaries, while Varasur A Arunachalam was named the new party headquarters secretary.

These high-level appointments signal a major improvement in ties between Palaniswami and several senior leaders who have patched up with the general secretary after previously rebelling against him. A group of prominent senior leaders, including P Thangamani, K P Anbazhagan, R Kamaraj, and K C Veeramani, along with several other party functionaries, have now been appointed as headquarters secretaries. These individuals had previously been stripped of their official party postings for revolting against Palaniswami following the assembly polls.

According to AIADMK party members, this extensive reshuffling of leadership positions is a deliberate reconciliation exercise. It is also strategically aimed at arresting a further exodus of party functionaries to the TVK party.

To counter potential defections, Palaniswami also took decisive action in the Pudukottai district. He removed the supporters of former minister C Vijayabaskar, who are reportedly all set to join the TVK next week. Palaniswami immediately replaced these ousted members with newly appointed office bearers in the Pudukottai district units to maintain party stability.

In addition to these leadership changes, Palaniswami executed a wider restructuring of several district units across the state. The specific areas affected by this restructuring include Tirupatur Urban, Tirupatur Rural, Coimbatore Urban-South, Trichy Rural-South, Thanjavur-Central, Pudukkottai North, and Pudukkottai South. This comprehensive reorganization resulted in the creation of 26 brand new district units, with Palaniswami appointing new district secretaries to oversee these newly formed party divisions.