AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami addressing protesters in Thanjavur on Friday.
| Photo Credit: R. Vengadesh
The State-wide demonstrations called by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday saw scores of his camp followers taking part in the agitation and the ranks of rebels suffering a split.
Mr. Palaniswami addressed a rally in Thanjavur, along with his party colleagues deputy leader of the party in the Assembly O.S. Manian and former Food Minister R. Kamaraj, who was a member of the dissidents’ camp three months ago. The agitation was called to criticise the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led regime for not effecting a full waiver of cooperative crop loans taken by farmers; being “lax” on the Mekedatu dam issue; and on not securing the State’s share of Cauvery water, besides demanding the supply of 24-hour power supply to farmers.
Among the prominent rebels who broke ranks on the day was former Electricity Minister P. Thangamani, who participated in the protest in Salem and expressed hope that Mr. Palaniswami would soon become the Chief Minister again. Former Ministers P. Balakrishna Reddy and K.C. Veeramani were present at the protests in their designated places of Namakkal and Tirupattur respectively.
