Though ADMK's Edappadi Palaniswami has lost the race to retain the reign, he has finally won the race for retaining his control in the party as he has got elected as the Opposition Leader in the current state assembly, representing the ADMK as the party has entered as the opposition party after conceding the defeat to the DMK alliance in the recently-held elections.

The state had witnessed the episodes of furor and war of words for the last few days between the top two leaders of the party in the race for the opposition leader. Both Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam have claimed the post by citing their victories from their constituencies. On the other hand, the supporters of both the leaders had been involved in a tussle with the demand for a single leadership in the party. 

Last Friday, the ADMK has convened a meet with the newly elected party MLAs, and with a major furor, the meet didn't produce a consensus between the leaders. Edappadi Palaniswami had claimed that he had won the polls with a huge margin and he also had secured a victory for the party in the Kongu belt, the western region of the party, and retained the party's stronghold in the region. 

However, Panneerselvam had directly blamed Palaniswami for the debacle of the party in the southern districts. Panneerselvam had cited that Palaniswami's move to adopt the reservation bill for the Vanniyar community had heavily disturbed the other communities across the state particularly in the southern districts due to which the party had lost most of the seats in the southern region. 

Both the leaders had strengthened their claim for the post in the party and as Friday's meeting had concluded with reaching a consensus, the meeting had resumed on Monday to elect the opposition leader and the party's whip in the assembly. The meeting began at around 9.30 am on Monday and it was underway for over three hours by drawing huge attention across the state on who will be the ADMK's Opposition leader. The meeting had invited a large number of police personnel for security purposes. 

The reports close to the developments had said that Edappadi Palaniswami will most likely win the race with the backing of a majority number of MLAs. In the recently held elections, the ADMK alliance had won 75 seats and ADMK alone had won 66 seats. Of these 66 MLAs, Edappadi Palaniswami had got the support of 61 MLAs to be the Opposition leader in the assembly - giving the baton of control again to him. 

Finally, it was officially announced on Monday afternoon that Edappadi Palaniswami has been elected as the Opposition Leader of the ADMK in the assembly. The decision was announced by the ADMK's official Twitter handle and it has come a day ahead of the commencement of the first session of the current assembly. The party wrote on Twitter, "ADMK's Joint Coordinator Edappadi Palaniswami has been elected as the Opposition Leader of the Tamil Nadu Assembly."

According to reports, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had released a statement concerning the election of the Opposition Leader and the party's decision has also been informed to the legislative secretary. The first session of the current assembly will be convening on May 11 during which Interim Speaker Pitchandi will administering the oath to the newly-elected MLAs. Though Palaniswami had lost the race to become the Chief Minister, he has won the race for the Opposition Leader, which had become a significant rise for him in the party. For Panneerselvam, it has implied another plunge for him in the party and the reports say he may be named as the Deputy Opposition Leader in the assembly. 

தமிழக சட்டப்பேரவையின் எதிர்க்கட்சி தலைவராக கழக இணை ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர் திரு. எடப்பாடி கே. பழனிசாமி அவர்கள் தேர்வு.

— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) May 10, 2021