The leadership crisis in the ADMK has been escalating each day as the party is yet to reach a consensus over the growing chorus of single leadership. The party's General Body meeting is due to be held on June 23 and ahead of the key gathering, the top two leaders- Chief Coordinator Pannerselvam and Joint Coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami are waging a fresh round of tussle and while the former fights for not losing the control, the latter is aiming to become the commander of the party. 

In the midst of intensifying political furores, Panneerselvam has cast the second episode of Dharmayutham as the recent events suggest that the party is heading towards a major rift with the dissipated cadres. In 2016, after the demise of Jayalalithaa, the party has broken into two factions - one headed by Panneerselvam and the other led by VK Sasikala and then by Edappadi Palaniswami. Panneerselvam has revolted against the party through his Dharmayutham. 

As years went by, both the factions had merged and expelled Sasikala from the party. But, there has been no ending for the party's leadership crisis, which has now burst out with the latest tussle as both of them aim to retain their base in the party. While expelled ADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala is finding ways to recoup her control in the party, both Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam are now racing to win the post of General Secretary, which was removed from the party's lawbook by the duo after expelling Sasikala. 

The voice for the single leadership in the party wasn't new but this time, the chorus for the single leader is accepted and backed by the senior leaders, who once rejected such claims. As the days are running out towards the General Body Meeting, the cadres of both the leaders are protesting against their opposite camp and the supporters of Panneerselvam on Thursday went on to break the car of former minister Jayakumar, who is backing Palaniswami. Earlier, Jayakumar has said that a majority of district secretaries and officer-bearers had backed the need for unitary leadership. 

The protesters have been hoarding banners in support of Panneerselvam and amid the protests, several senior leaders have been meeting both the leaders separately and the grassroots ADMK cadres await to see how the war progresses, with no sight of consensus. The party has been witnessing an aggressive political drama and it has now been reported that Edappadi Palaniswami and his camp have been working to sideline Panneerselvam. It was Palaniswami's camp that pushed for single leadership by electing him as the General Secretary. According to a news agency, Palaniswami's camp has been trying to convince Panneerselvam to agree to a resolution at the General Council Meeting. 

Palaniswami has assured that he will provide the post of ADMK's Presidium Chairman to Panneerselvam, which is the second powerful post in the party, while the former will decorate the first one. Quoting the sources, the reports say that Palaniswami has decided to offer the posts of Presidium Chairman and Head of the Steering Committee to Panneerselvam. Most of the senior leaders are backing Palaniswami while Panneerselvam's supporters are demanding that either Panneerselvam should be made the General Secretary or let the post remain vacant.

The Panneerselvam camp has been sporting a face that they won't accept Palaniswami's elevation and they are also planning to take legal action against Palaniswami and hold the General meeting. Amid such shocking twists and turns, Panneerselvam has addressed the media for the first time since the crisis escalated during which he had pulled in Prime Minister Modi the crisis by citing that Modi has asked him to take the role of Deputy Chief Minister in the previous ADMK regime, though he refused for it. 

In what resembled the second episode of Dharmayutham, Panneerselvam has on Thursday rejected the growing clamour for unitary leadership by the party functionaries who are backing Edappadi Palaniswami. Panneerselvam affirmed that he is open to talks with them. Speaking to the reporters, Panneerselvam said that he cannot be sidelined and only ordinary party workers have a say in the party organization matters. By citing that everything was going well with the present dual leadership system, Panneerselvam had expressed his surprise over the sudden clamour for a single leadership. 

The party's Chief Coordinator had slammed former minister Jayakumar for ballooning the single leadership issue to the wider crowd. Our sources say that Panneerselvam's assay to pull Modi into the crisis was to show that he would approach the Prime Minister against Palaniswami if the latter causes any harm to his political base. It must be noted that Modi had played a vital role in the merger of the factions, following which both the leaders of ADMK had decided to ally with the BJP in the elections. 

Panneerselvam made it clear that Palaniswami was behind the 'single-leadership' clamour and that the latter is aiming to take full control of the party. Panneerselvam said that it was Palaniswami who invited party functionaries to express opinions though it was not on the agenda. According to PTI, Panneerselvam said that the proposal to usher in a single leadership by way of restoring the general secretary post is not possible and any such move would only be a betrayal to Jayalalithaa, who was declared as the permanent general secretary of the party several years ago. 

Earlier, Jayakumar has said that matter will end cordially. However, the grassroots cadres of ADMK are left in a lurch over the party's trajectory with back-to-back crises and tussles. A certain section of cadres is hoping for the political venture from Sasikala while Tamil Nadu is witnessing the ailing state of one of the largest political movements. On the other hand, the intra-party furore has posted external trouble to the ADMK as due to the faltering party base as the opposition party, several parties have been claiming them to be the true opposition and the latest in line is Vijayakanth's DMDK.