Edappadi K. Palaniswami

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Edappadi K. Palaniswami
EdappadiPalaniswami.jpg
18th Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
11 May 2021
Deputy
Chief MinisterM. K. Stalin
Preceded byM. K. Stalin
ConstituencyEdappadi
7th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
In office
16 February 2017 – 6 May 2021
Governor
CabinetPalaniswami ministry - I
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byM. K. Stalin
ConstituencyEdappadi
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
23 May 2011
Preceded byV. Kaveri
ConstituencyEdappadi
In office
6 February 1989 – 12 May 1996
Preceded byGovindaswamy
Succeeded byI. Ganesan
ConstituencyEdappadi
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999
Preceded byK. P. Ramalingam
Succeeded byM. Kannappan
ConstituencyTiruchengode
6th General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Assumed office
28 March 2023
Deputy
Preceded byJ. Jayalalithaa
Interim General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
11 July 2022 – 27 March 2023
Deputy
Preceded byV. K. Sasikala (Temporary)
Succeeded byPosition ceased
Joint Coordinator of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
21 August 2017 – 23 June 2022
Deputy
CoordinatorO. Panneerselvam
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
In office
8 June 2016 – 12 July 2022
General Secretary
Coordinators
Preceded byP. Palaniappan
Succeeded byS. P. Velumani
Personal details
Born
Palaniswami

(1954-05-12) 12 May 1954 (age 69)
Siluvampalayam, Salem, Madras State, India
(present-day Tamil Nadu)[1]
Political partyAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Spouse(s)Ratha Palaniswami
ChildrenMithun Kumar (son)
Parents
  • V. Karuppa (father)
  • Thavasi Ammal (mother)
Residence
Profession
  • Agriculturalist
  • Politician
Awards
Nickname(s)E.P.S., Edappadiyaar

Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami (born 12 May 1954), often referred to by his initials E.P.S., is an Indian politician who is the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and the current leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[2] He served as the 7th chief minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the General Secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 28 March 2023.[3] Palaniswami served as the Joint Coordinator of the AIADMK from 2017 to 2022 and Interim General Secretary of the AIADMK from 2022 to 2023.[4][5] He also served as the Headquarters Secretary of the AIADMK from 2016 to 2022.[6]

Palaniswami has represented Edappadi since 2011 as Member of the Legislative Assembly, previously serving from 1989 to 1996. In the 1998 Indian general election he was elected as Member of Parliament of the Lok Sabha representing Tiruchengode.

When AIADMK won the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, he was given a ministerial berth by J. Jayalalithaa and served as the Minister of Highways and Minor Ports on 16 May 2011 for the government of Tamil Nadu. After 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election victory, he was given the additional responsibility of Ministry of Public Works by former C.M, J. Jayalalithaa.

Personal life[edit]

Palaniswami was born on 12 May 1954[1] to Karuppa Gounder and Thavasiyammal at Siluvampalayam, Salem, Madras State, India (now in Tamil Nadu, India).[1][7][8] His parents were farmers. After completing school, he enrolled for B.Sc. degree in Sri Vasavi College but did not graduate. He was the students union leader at college. He has a brother Govindraj and a sister Ranjitham.[9] He is married to Ratha Palaniswami and has one son and is an agriculturalist by occupation.[10][1][7]

Political career[edit]

Palaniswami entered politics as a volunteer for the AIADMK in 1974.[10] Later he became the key member of the party in Salem district. He was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1989, representing Edappadi constituency, and won re-election in 1991.[11][12] He was elected Member of Parliament, representing Tiruchengodu constituency in the 12th Lok Sabha. He emerged a dominant force in the AIADMK in the Western belt during late 1990s. He was appointed Propaganda Secretary in July 2006 and Organizing Secretary in 2007.[13] He was elected from Edappadi constituency in 2011[14][15] and 2016[16] when the AIADMK emerged as a ruling party. He slowly gained prominence as one of the strong confidants of J.Jayalalithaa along with O. Paneerselvam and Dindigul C.Sreenivasan. He served as the Minister of Highways and Minor Ports from 2011 and also served as the Minister of Public Works from 2016 in the J. Jayalalithaa, O. Panneerselvam and in his own ministry. In 2014, He was appointed as the member of AIADMK party disciplinary committee.[17] In 2016, he was appointed headquarters secretary of AIADMK, by succeeding P. Palaniappan.[6][18]

Chief Minister, 2017-2021[edit]

Edappadi K. Palaniswami at the Finals of 68th National Basketball Championship in 2018

Palaniswami became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in February 2017,[19] following the resignation of O. Panneerselvam, who became chief minister after the demise of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa who won the 2016 Legislative Assembly election as CM candidate of AIADMK. He was sworn in on 16 February 2017 before a crowd of party workers, along with his 32-member cabinet. Palaniswami also holds the charge of Home, Prohibition & Excise Departments along with the other portfolios normally held by the Chief Ministers, and not mentioned elsewhere. He is elected from Edappadi constituency. During his reign, he introduced various schemes like Kudimaramaththu Work, FAME India scheme and Amma Patrol in Tamil Nadu to ascertain the security of women and children in public places.

In May 2018, police opened fire on protests against a Sterlite plant that was polluting local groundwater in Thoothukudi, killing 13 people. While ordering a one-man commission into the violence, Palaniswami also declared the shootings were in "self-defence."[20]

On 28 May, Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu Government ordered the permanent closure of the Sterlite Copper plant. “The Amma government has issued an order to have the Sterlite plant closed down permanently in deference to the sentiments of the people of Thoothukudi,” then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami told journalists in the evening after chairing a meeting of his party legislators at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.[21][22][23]

However, during the 2019 elections, AIADMK contested in alliance with the BJP and was swept out of parliament when the DMK-led alliance won 38 out of 39 seats in the state.[24]

In 2019 he went on a 13-day tour in the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates to promote foreign investment in Tamil Nadu. While there he launched the Yaadhum Oore programme (lit. all countries, based on Puranauru 192) to encourage the Tamil diaspora to re-invest in Tamil Nadu, in the same line as other states with large NRI populations such as Kerala.[25] During trip he secured 3 lakh crores worth of foreign investment, a greater amount than even his predecessor Jayalalithaa did.

In February 2020, Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu government declared the Cauvery delta region as a Protected Special Agriculture Zone. The announcement was widely hailed by political parties and farmers organisations.[26][27][28]

In 2020, Palaniswami led AIADMK government passed order for 7.5% Quota in Medical Admissions for Govt. School Students.[29] He took action to set up government medical colleges in newly formed 11 districts which offered 1,650 more seats to then existing 3,400 seats.[30][31]

Under his governance, Tamil Nadu was rated as the best governed state based on a composite index in the context of sustainable development according to the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre in Oct. 2020. Palaniswami is also praised for his administration during the coronavirus pandemic. Tamil Nadu was one of the few states that did not register negative growth in the period of pandemic.

During his regime, Tamil Nadu was the best performing big state overall from the year 2018 to 2021. With a gross state domestic product of $290 billion or Rs 21.6 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu became India's second-largest economy.[32][33][34]

In 2020, the study “States of the State” of India Today, said that Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu has topped in 11 categories from a total of 12, including economy, tourism, infrastructure, inclusive development, law and order, along with entrepreneurship, cleanliness, environment, health, education and agriculture. Tamil Nadu had been chosen for this recognition for the third consecutive year.[34]

On 3 May 2021, Palaniswami resigned as Chief Minister following AIADMK's defeat in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Election.[35][36]

Leader of the Opposition, 2021[edit]

After the party lost the assembly elections in May 2021, Palaniswami won the Edappadi constituency and was elected as the Leader Of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[37][38]

Leadership Tussle with O. Panneerselvam, 2022[edit]

On 14 June 2022, citing the party's troubles in the polls, AIADMK district secretaries and other senior party members spoke out to shun the “dual leadership” system and came out publicly in favor of strong unitary leader to strengthen the organisation.

Edappadi K. Palaniswami supporters pushed for the change in the party's leadership structure by staging a political coup against AIADMK Coordinator O. Panneerselvam, who had become weak within the party. According to many sources, of the AIADMK's 75 district secretaries, hardly 10 supported him. Of the party's 66 MLAs, only five MLAs were reportedly on O. Panneerselvam side and less than 20 percent of the party's general council members behind him ahead of crucial general council meeting on 23 June 2022, which was expected to elect the single leadership to the party.[39][40][41]

On 23 June 2022, A. Tamil Magan Hussain was unanimously elected as the Presidium Chairman of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram, Chennai.[42]

On 30 June 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote a letter to O. Panneerselvam asserting the latter ceased to be the party coordinator as the amendments made to the party's bylaw in the 2020 December executive committee meeting were not recognised in the general council meeting held on 23 June.[43][44]

General Secretary of AIADMK[edit]

On 11 July 2022, The Party General Council abolished the dual leadership model and empowered Edappadi K. Palaniswami to be the Party Chief.[45] The General Council also expelled the Treasurer O. Panneerselvam and his loyalists R. Vaithilingam, P. H. Manoj Pandian, J. C. D. Prabhakar from their respective posts and primary memberships of the party for "anti-party" activities.[46][47][48]

On 11 July 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the Interim General Secretary of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram, Chennai.[49] On 17 August, the Madras High Court however nullified the decisions of the AIADMK General Council and ordered mainitaing the status quo as on 23 June 2022.[50] On 2 September 2022, a division bench of the Madras High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022 and set aside the previous court order of the single judge in the appeal case of Edappadi K. Palaniswami, thus effectively restoring unitary leadership.[51][52]

On 23 February 2023, the Supreme Court of India upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the previous order of the division bench, thus affirming unitary leadership under Edappadi K Palaniswami.[4][5] On 28 March 2023, The Madras High Court ruled in favor of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and dismissed the petitions of O. Panneerselvam challenging the resolutions passed at the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022. On the same day, AIADMK announced that Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected as the general secretary through party's general secretary election.[3][53] On 20 April 2023, The Election Commission of India recognized Edappadi K Palaniswami as the AIADMK party general secretary, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to list of office-bearers.[54][55] He was now trying to form and lead the new alliance in state and part of NDA, like DMK's SPA and facing Next Indian general election and TN Assembly election. On 10 July 2023, The Election Commission of India recognized the changes at the party organization after due election.[56]

Elections contested and positions held[edit]

Lok Sabha elections[edit]

Elections Constituency Party Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote percentage
1998 Indian general election Tiruchengodu AIADMK Won 54.70 K. P. Ramalingam DMK 40.89
1999 Indian general election Tiruchengodu AIADMK Lost 48.53 M. Kannappan MDMK 49.08
2004 Indian general election Tiruchengodu AIADMK Lost 37.27 Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan DMK 58.02

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections[edit]

Elections Constituency Party Result Vote percentage Opposition Candidate Opposition Party Opposition vote percentage
1989 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Won 33.08 L. Palanisamy DMK 31.62
1991 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Won 58.24 P. Kolandai Gounder PMK 25.03
1996 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Lost 28.21 I. Ganesan PMK 37.68
2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Lost 41.06 V. Kaveri PMK 44.80
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Won 56.38 M. Karthe PMK 37.66
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Won 43.74 N. Annadurai PMK 25.12
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Edappadi AIADMK Won 65.97 Sampath Kumar DMK 28.04

Posts in Parliament of India[edit]

Constituency Position From To
Tiruchengodu Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha 10 March 1998 26 April 1999

Posts in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly[edit]

Constituency Position From To
Edappadi Member of Legislative Assembly 6 February 1989 12 May 1996
Member of Legislative Assembly 23 May 2011 present
Minister of Highways and Minor Ports 16 May 2011 22 May 2016
Minister of Highways and Minor Ports and Minister of Public Works 23 May 2016 6 May 2021
Chief Minister 17 February 2017 6 May 2021
Leader of the Opposition 11 May 2021 Incumbent

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  13. "அடிப்படை உறுப்பினர் முதல் எதிர்க்கட்சித் தலைவர் வரை: அதிமுகவில் இபிஎஸ் வகித்த பதவிகள்!". puthiyathalaimurai (in தமிழ்). 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
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  46. "அதிமுகவிலிருந்து ஓபிஎஸ் அனைத்து பதவிகளிலிருந்தும் நீக்கம்!". news18 tamil (in தமிழ்). 11 July 2022.
  47. "OPS Expelled from AIADMK Through Special Resolution After EPS Takes Control of Party". news18. 11 July 2022.
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  50. R. Sivakumar (17 August 2022). "OPS wins legal battle in Madras HC, dual leadership to continue in AIADMK for now". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  51. "அதிமுக பொதுக்குழு செல்லும்; தனி நீதிபதி உத்தரவு ரத்து". News7 Tamil. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
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  54. "AIADMK Amended Constitution dated 20.04.2023.pdf". Election Commission of India. 20 April 2023.
  55. "Election Commission of India recognises Edappadi K. Palaniswami as AIADMK general secretary". The Hindu. 20 April 2023.
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External links[edit]

Template:Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (2011–2016)