Wrong strategy forces Palaniswami to fight for CM nomination

By Venkatachari Jagannathan Chennai, Oct 4 : At a time when everything was going fine for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and ruling AIADMK Joint Coordinator K.Palaniswami, the demand for announcing the Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 elections by his supporters has put him on a difficult wicket, said analysts and politicians.
They also said the threat of the party going back to the position where it was soon after the death of General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa also exists owing to the power struggle.
“The going was good for Palaniswami including the general public perception about the government handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The only negative point was the reopening of liquor shops. The opposition had nothing much except complaining about corruption.
“All that Palaniswami had to do was to consolidate his position silently without precipitating any issue,” a political analyst told IANS preferring anonymity.
But it was not to be. In an apparently wrong strategy Palaniswami’s supporters raised the issue of the party announcing the Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2021 assembly elections.
“This gave the space for another Chief Minister aspirant and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to raise the issue of forming a steering committee to guide the party,” the analyst added.