Edappadi K Palanisamy, the new CM of TN

When the party split following the death of MG Ramachandran’s death in 1987, Palanisamy had supported Jayalalithaa.

Chennai, Feb 16: Edappadi K Palanisamy is the new chief minister of the Tamil Nadu. He was chosen by his party Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs as the leader of legislature party after Sasikala Natarajan was convicted by Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case.

The active politician was hand-picked by former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa three decades ago and soon he became her link with the party cadre. He was the minister for highways and minor ports in the government of Tamil Nadu before this.

Personal:

Palanisamy, 62, belongs to Nedungulam village in Edappadi taluk of Tamil Nadu.

Career:

Palanisamy had joined the AIADMK at a young age in the 1980s. When the party split following the death of MG Ramachandran's death in 1987, he supported Jayalalithaa.

For supporting Jayalalithaa he was given party ticket to contest from Edappadi constituency during the 1989 elections. He won the seat in 1989.

After 1991 he had to struggle for a decade as he lost the seat and he was sidelined. He however continued to enjoy trust of Jayalalithaa.

Palanisamy has won Assembly Election four times in Tamil Nadu from Edapadi constituency. He has won the election in 1989, 1991, 2011 and 2016. In the May 2016 elections he easily won his seat by margin of 42,022 votes.

He suddenly sprung into limelight when he was picked as leader of legislative party AIADMK as a challenge for the rebel camp led by caretaker CM O Panneerselvam.

Strengths:

Strength of Palanisamy is that he is powerful OBC leader as he comes from politically strong Gounder community. He was a staunch loyalist of Jayalalithaa and he was considered as one of her favourites.

When Jayalalithaa wanted to pass a message to the district level party members she made sure the message was conveyed through him.

He was the third choice for the post of CM after the death of Jayalalithaa in December last year.

Weakness:

He doesn't have good support base in his home town. He is pitched against O Panneerselvam who was also part of Nalvar Ani - the four member group made by Jayalalithaa. The group had four members who Jayalalithaa trusted.

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