Chennai, July 24 (IANS) Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who was expelled from the AIADMK during its July 11 General Council meeting, said that he was appointing office bearers of the party.

The former AIADMK Chief Coordinator said that he was appointing party Rajya Sabha Member R. Dharmar, former MP R. Gopalakrishnan and former legislators V.N.P. Venkitaraman, and Kovai Selvaraj to various posts.

While he still claims that he is still the Coordinator of the AIADMK and that he was appointing these leaders in this capacity, the General Council meeting posted K. Palaniswami as the party's interim General Secretary and expelled Panneerselvam from the party.

The AIADMK was in a major rift since the party lost power in the 2021 Assembly elections with Panneerselvam on the one side and Palaniswami on the other. However, in the General Council meet, it became clear that it was Palaniswami who was calling the shots and that OPS was woefully outnumbered.

The AIADMK is in a process of reinventing with the possibility of the party moving towards the Congress and snapping ties with the BJP. As Palaniswami has become the single power centre in the party, he can take decisions without hindrance.

AIADMK leader CVe Shanmugham, who is a close confidant of Palaniswami, has filed a police complaint at the Royapettah police station against Panneerselvam for barging into the party headquarters along with his supporters. Shanmugham, who is also the former Law minister, in his complaint said that several valuable documents were missing from the AIADMK office.