General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
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Aṉaittintiya Aṇṇā Tirāviṭa Muṉṉēṟṟak Kaḻaka Potuc Ceyalāḷar | |
![]() Flag of the AIADMK | |
General Secretary's Office | |
Type | Head of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Status | Leader of the Party |
Abbreviation | GSOAIADMK |
Member of | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Residence | Sevvandhi, 9, P.S. Kumaraswamy Raja Salai, Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai – 600028, Tamil Nadu, India. |
Seat | Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R. Maaligai, 226, V.P. Raman Salai, Royapettah, Chennai – 600014, Tamil Nadu, India. |
Appointer | Committee consisting of members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from the General and Executive Councils |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Formation | 17 October 1972 |
First holder | M. G. Ramachandran |
Deputy | , Deputy General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
Website | www.aiadmk.com |
This article is part of a series on the |
Dravidian Politics |
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The General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is the head of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. [1] The party is adhering to the policy of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. [2] [3] The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. Since 1976, the AIADMK general secretary has been the leader of the party.
According to the Constitution of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the general secretary serves as an ex officio member of the Chief Executive Council and General Body Council, Party's de facto top decision-making body. The general secretary also sets the agenda of Chief Executive Council and General Body Council meetings. The General Secretary has been a symbol of stability and continuity in the party. [4]
The incumbent general secretary is Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who took office on 28 March 2023, after serving as the interim general secretary from 11 July 2022. [5] [6] The last person who held the position was the Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa, who served as Party General Secretary from 1988 [lower-alpha 1] until her death in 2016.
The party was founded on 17 October 1972, as Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) by M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), a veteran Tamil film star and popular politician. It was set up as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after its president M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. [8] M.G.R., who wanted to start a new political party, then incorporated into Anakaputhur Ramalingam's party, which had registered under the name ADMK. He then quoted, "I joined the party started by an ordinary volunteer" and gave the post of Member of Legislative Council (MLC) to Ramalingam.
On 1 November 1976, M.G.R. prefixed the All India (AI) tag to the party's name to protect the party during the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) [9] and The Party Constitution formally came into effect with the General Secretary position as its head. [10] [11] During the lifetime of M. G. Ramachandran, He was the face of the party until his death on 24 December 1987, though others such as V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, P. U. Shanmugam, S. Raghavanandam served as the general secretaries of the party in different times. On 1 January 1988, Jayalalithaa was elected general secretary of the AIADMK by the prominent members of her faction, and it was ratified by the party general council convened by her the next day. [12] [13] The party began to crumble due to infighting and broke into two factions, one under Janaki Ramachandran and the other under J. Jayalalithaa, an associate of M.G.R. and another film actress-turned-politician who had starred with M.G.R. The Election Commission of India froze the "Two Leaves" symbol on 17 December 1988. [14] Following the AIADMK's rout in the 1989 Tamil Nadu election, the factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki merged under Jayalalithaa's leadership on 7 February 1989, as Janaki decided to quit politics as it was not her forte. On 8 February 1989, then Chief Election Commissioner R. V. S. Peri Sastri granted the Two Leaves symbol to the united AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa. [15] From then, The AIADMK was led by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa (Amma) as general secretary of the party till her death in 5 December 2016. She was admired as the Mother of the party by her cadre [16] and was highly popular among the Tamil populace until her death in 2016. [17]
After her death, The Party General Council appointed Jayalalithaa's aide V. K. Sasikala as the acting general secretary of the party on 31 December 2016. On 12 September 2017, A dual leadership system was amended in the constitution of the party by removing the designation of general secretary and Late J. Jayalalithaa was named the eternal general secretary of AIADMK at the AIADMK general council. [18] After constituting the new designations for the party's leadership, O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami became the coordinator and joint coordinator of the AIADMK respectively. [19]
On 11 July 2022, The AIADMK general council reversed its previous decision and brought back the general secretary position to elect Edappadi K. Palaniswami as party head. i.e., Interim general secretary [20] On 28 March 2023, Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected as the general secretary of the party through a general secretary election. [6] [21] On 20 April 2023, the Election Commission of India recognized Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the general secretary of the party, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to the list of office-bearers. [11] [22] On 10 July 2023, the Election Commission of India recognized the changes made in the party organization after the party's due election. [23]
The General Council shall be the Supreme body of the party with all powers. The General Council consists of Presidium Chairman, General Secretary, Deputy General Secretaries Treasurer, Headquarters Secretaries, the members of executive council and general council elected from all districts and other states, the members of Audit Committee, Property Protection Committee and Parliamentary Board. The General Council Meeting shall be convened once in a year and Central Executive Council twice in a year or whenever it is considered. The General council (GC) has 5-year term. The tenure shall get extended till the next GC meeting is convened. [11]
The General Council will elect the Presidium Chairman to preside over the proceedings of the Central Executive Council and The General council meetings. In his absence, one of the GC member will temporarily preside over and conduct the meetings. [11]
The AIADMK general secretary shall be elected by the primary members of the party. In practice, the de facto method of selecting the general secretary has varied over time. V. K. Sasikala and Edappadi K. Palaniswami were first elevated to the position of interim general secretary by the general council. The interim general secretary would later succeed the retiring or deceased general secretary as part of a generational leadership transition at the subsequent general council meeting. Under this informal process, the interim general secretary would be chosen during deliberations by incumbent members of the general council in the lead-up to a formal election. [11]
The members of the party who fulfill the following eligibility criteria prescribed in the rules and regulations shall be eligible to participate in the elections:
The powers and roles of the general secretary are defined, with 5-year term limits and written rules for selecting a successor. However, the general secretaries have been unanimously elected so far. The general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over the party and government while in power and is usually considered the supreme leader of the cadres. However, most of the people until Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who have held the post, have held far less power than M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa.
According to the constitution of the party, [11]
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term in office | Elected via | Election officer(s) | ||
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Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
1 | ![]() | M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987) | 17 October 1972 | 31 October 1976 | 6 years, 316 days | Resolution | General Council |
1 November 1976 | 22 June 1978 | Election | N/A | ||||
17 October 1986 | 24 December 1987 | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan | |||||
2 | ![]() | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000) | 23 June 1978 | 10 June 1980 | 1 year, 353 days | Election | N/A |
3 | ![]() | P. U. Shanmugam (1924–2007) | 11 June 1980 | 13 March 1985 | 4 years, 275 days | Election | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan |
4 | ![]() | S. Raghavanandam (1917–1999) | 14 March 1985 | 16 October 1986 | 1 year, 216 days | Election | |
5 | ![]() | J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016) | 1 January 1988 [lower-alpha 2] | 8 February 1989 | 28 years, 339 days | Resolution | General Council |
9 February 1989 | 22 June 1993 | Election | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan | ||||
23 June 1993 | 22 September 1998 | ||||||
23 September 1998 | 9 September 2003 | ||||||
10 September 2003 | 9 September 2008 | C. Ponnaiyan | |||||
10 September 2008 | 28 August 2014 | Visalakshi Nedunchezhiyan | |||||
29 August 2014 | 5 December 2016 | ||||||
Acting | ![]() | V. K. Sasikala (1954–) | 31 December 2016 | 17 February 2017 | 48 days | Resolution | General Council |
Interim | ![]() | Edappadi K. Palaniswami (1954–) | 11 July 2022 | 27 March 2023 | 2 years, 21 days | ||
6 | 28 March 2023 | Incumbent | Election | Natham R. Viswanathan and Pollachi V. Jayaraman |
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