Amid fighting the COVID-19 outbreak, the political parties in Tamil Nadu are getting ready to hit the campaign trail for the upcoming state legislative elections and with having less than a year left, the political heat is expected to get unfolded in coming months over fixing the alliance and selecting the candidates. 

The ruling ADMK party, which eyes for the third consecutive term in the assembly amid being queued with controversies and accusations, has now sparked the intra-party furor over selecting the Chief Ministerial candidate for the next elections as it is apparent that the Chief Minister will be the face of the party in its regime.

While it was speculated that incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami will be the Chief Ministerial candidate of ADMK party for the 2021 state legislative elections, the senior minister of ADMK went contrary and spelled the controversy by stating that the Chief Minister will be selected by the MLAs after winning the elections. 

Senior Minister Sellur Raju, who is known for speaking his mind, addressed the reporters in Madurai during which he said that the Chief Minister will be selected by the MLAs after the elections. The reports say the minister's statement shows that he is not willing to endorse Edappadi Palaniswami as the Chief Minister. His statement has come when the party has two camps for supporting Edappadi Palaniswami and Pannerselvam respectively. 

While the supporters of current Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami have been working to make him as the Chief Minister, the supporters of current Deputy and former Chief Minister Panneerselvam have been hoping that he would have a chance of stabilizing his stronghold in the coming elections. Sellur Raju's statement has brought the heat outside as it had stirred intra-party words of war after his fellow minister voiced against his statement. 

Tamil Nadu Dairy development minister KT Rajenthra Balaji has dismissed what Sellur Raju said and the former claimed that Edappadi Palaniswami will be the party's candidate for Chief Minister in 2021. On Tuesday, Rajenthra Balaji tweeted that Edappadi Palaniswami will always be the Chief Minister. The Minister stated that "we will meet on the field after setting the target. We will form a team and Edappadi will be at the forefront and we will win, 2021 will also be ours". 

எடப்பாடியார் என்றும் முதல்வர்!

இலக்கை நிர்ணயித்துவிட்டு
களத்தை சந்திப்போம்!
எடப்பாடியாரை முன்னிருத்தி
தளம் அமைப்போம்!
களம் கான்போம்!
வெற்றி கொள்வோம்!
2021-ம் நமதே!

— KT Rajenthra Bhalaji (@RajBhalajioffl) August 11, 2020

The 2021 state legislative assembly elections will be the first state elections for Edappadi Palaniswami as the Chief Minister and he has been strengthening his base across the state both on the ground and on digital platforms. The Chief Minister's camp has been disseminating and campaigning for Edappadi Palaniswami to ensure that he would remain as Chief Minister in 2021 and Panneerselvam has also been trying to regain his popularity in the state and in the party.  

Sellur Raju's comment of not directly endorsing Edappadi Palaniswami as the Chief Ministerial candidate has come at a high time and sparked debate and heat in the party as he has been one of the senior ministers in the state. Some of his followers say that the minister's comment has reflected that he is not willing to accept Edappadi Palaniswami as the Chief Minister. 

The differences from the ministers of the same party had revealed that Edappadi Palaniswami is less likely to have a clear path to retain the power in 2021 and the statements had also triggered political heat in the party, which only has months-time to face the elections before which it ought to fix the differences. Edappadi Palaniswami has taken over as the Chief Minister in 2017 after the demise of then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.