Amid swirling speculations, intra-party tussle, and chaotic parleys between the factions, the ADMK party has seemingly brought the political feud and power fight to an end after the party had officially announced its Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming state polls. 

On Wednesday, as announced by the party earlier that it would name the CM candidate on October 7, the party had drawn massive attention and occupied headlines as the party leaders arrived at the party headquarters after hectic parleys and discussions with the respective factions headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam. 

When both the leaders arrived at the party headquarters to reveal who is the CM candidate of the party, they were welcomed by hundreds of supporters and senior leaders as they arrived at the headquarters for the first time since the tussle for the CM race came to light. The reports have earlier asserted that Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam will be declaring the name of the CM candidate amid the expectations from the party members that the leaders would reach a truce and amicable resolution. 

Edappadi Palaniswami and Panneerselvam were seated next to each other while they were surrounded by senior ministers, leaders, MLAs, and MPs. Ahead of the meeting, the reports close to the developments confirmed that the party would be making its final announcement on the CM candidate and it would also install the 11-member steering committee as demanded by Panneerselvam to curtail the drama of tussle. 

As confirmed by the reports, Edappadi Palaniswami, with having Panneerselvam next to him, made the announcement of forming the 11-member steering committee as per Panneerselvam's demand, which the latter had pressed it strongly to the party to attain a consensus. Edappadi Palaniswami has announced the formation of the committee and he also had named the members of the committee, which included senior ministers and MLAs of the party. 

By citing that the party had made a unanimous decision in forming the committee, Edappadi Palanswami said Dindigul Srinivasan, Thangamani, Velumani, Jayakumar, CVe Shanmugam, Kamaraj, Prabhakar, Manoj Pandian, Mohan, Gopalakrishnan, and Manickam will be the members of the steering committee. However, the party hasn't named who would be leading the committee, which would likely become the decision-making body of the party. 

Following Edappadi Palaniswami's announcement, Panneerselvam took the microphone and made the announcement which was widely expected across the state. By bringing the speculations to the end, Panneerselvam announced that Edappadi Palaniswami will be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party in the 2021 elections. While speaking, Panneerselvam called Edappadi Palaniswami as his 'dear brother' and said that he is happy to announce Edappadi Palaniswami as the CM candidate. 

After officially announcing that Edappadi Palanswami is the CM candidate of the party, senior leaders and ministers welcomed the decision by raising voices and hailing the Chief Minister. Panneerselvam had greeted Palaniswami as the latter had profoundly accepted the nomination of the party to be its face in the upcoming assembly polls, which would be the first legislative elections for Edappadi Palanswami as the Chief Minister. 

With the announcement was headlined, the supporters of both the leaders, who gathered at the party headquarters and across the state, had celebrated by distributing sweets and bursting crackers to celebrate the decision as the party leaders had claimed that both the factions had united by reaching a truce and the leaders say that the decision has shown that the party is ready to take the elections under Edappadi Palaniswami and it would be working with the single goal of winning the elections. 

The meeting had lasted for 30 minutes during which the top two leaders had officially signed the decision and made the announcement of the CM candidate and the announcement has come with multiple episodes of discussions and parleys between the factions for the past ten days and with the announcement, the reports say that it had drawn the conclusion of the tussle. 

As TNS reported on October 6 about the deal from the senior leaders to reach the truce, the party has unfolded the decision based on the deal made by the senior leaders for the top two leaders in uniting them. Through the deal, they proposed that Edappadi Palaniswami would be the CM candidate and to form the steering committee as demanded by Panneerselvam and in the current meeting, the party has announced the establishment of the steering committee and named Edappadi Palaniswami will be the Chief Ministerial candidate for the party in the 2021 elections. 

Must-read: CM race in ADMK: Senior leaders have come up with a new 'deal' to end the tussle! What's in it?