Former CM Panneerselvam was sacked from his role as deputy leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, days after he was expelled from the AIADMK party. The position of Panneerselvam will now be chaired by R B Udhayakumar as a new deputy leader. The Interim General Secretary of Opposition Party AIADMK, Edappadi k Palaniswami said on Tuesday.

The party release by Palaniswami stated that Udhayakumar, representing the Tirumangalam Assembly constituency, was elected as deputy leader of the Opposition by the party in a meeting of its MLAs held here on July 17. Also, Agri S S Krishnamurthy, a former Minister was elected as deputy secretary of the legislature party.

The appointments were made after AIADMK chief whip SP Velumani went to the Speaker's office on July 19 Tuesday and handed over a letter to Appavu concerning the transfer of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and the removal of Panneerselvam, Vaithilingam, and Manoj Pandian from the AIADMK. And this decision was previously made at a meeting of the legislature party on Sunday.

It is pertinent to note that O. Panneerselvam who was recognized as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by M. Appavu, Speaker of the assembly on  14 June 2021, and earlier Edappadi K. Palaniswami was recognized as the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 11 May 2021. Also the presently appointed deputy leader of the AIADMK party, Udhaya Kumar was sacked as Minister for Information Technology in November 2011 as part of the third cabinet reshuffle in a five-month period by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.