After protracted discussions, the AIADMK on Monday announced that former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was elected as the Legislature Party (LP) Leader following which he will be the Leader of the Opposition in the 16th Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Mr Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the AIADMK Legislature Party (LP) leader at the second meeting of the newly-elected MLAs held at the party office.
This was announced in a joint statement by Mr Palaniswami, who is also the Co-coordinator of the AIADMK and Coordinator and former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.
Both leaders are learnt to have staked claim to the important post, which is equal to that of a Cabinet rank.
As the meeting remained inconclusive, the two leaders called for a second meeting of MLAs today in which Mr Palaniswami, elected to the Assembly from his native Edappadi constituency for a fifth time, was elected ‘unanimously’ as the LP leader, following which he will be the leader of the main Opposition in the State Assembly.
In the single phase elections held on April six, the AIADMK lost to the DMK after being in power for ten years.
The AIADMK-led Front out together managed to win only 75 seats in the 234-member Assembly. The AIADMK won 66 seats, while its allies PMK and BJP won five and four seats respectively.
By winning 66 seats, the AIADMK emerged as the second largest party and will be the principal Opposition party in the Assembly.
Riding on the silent anti-incumbency factor against the AIADMK regime, the DMK stormed back to power after a gap of ten years.
