Edappadi K. Palaniswami will be the chief ministerial candidate of the AIADMKf or the upcoming 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election.

This was announced by Deputy Chief Minister and the party coordinator O. Pannerselvam at the party headquarters on Wednesday morning in the presence of senior leaders and Ministers.

“I am happy to announce that our dear brother Palaniswami will be the victorious Chief Ministerial candidate of the AIADMK for the 2021 Assembly elections,” Mr. Panneerselvam said in a crowded press conference. The decision has been taken unanimously in consultations led by party presidium chairman E Madusudanan, he added.

Earlier, the Chief Minister announced the composition of an eleven-member Steering Committee.

Forest Minister Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, Power Minister P Thangamani, Local Administration Minister S P Velumani, Food Minister R Kamaraj, Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, former Minister P Mohan, former MPs P H Manoj Pandian and R Gopalakrishnan, former MLA J.C.D. Prabhakar, and Sholavandan legislator Manickam are the members of panel, which will guide the party on all matters.

On the eve of Wednesday’s scheduled announcement, there were indications that the incumbent CM and the ruling party’s co-coordinator, Mr. Palaniswami, would be renominated for the top job.

Mr. Palaniswami had hinted that he was open to the Mr. Panneerselvam’s demand for the constitution of an 11-member steering committee for the party. At the same time, other committees could also be constituted for handling various activities, such as election propaganda, seat-sharing negotiations with prospective allies and the preparation of the election manifesto.

Among the issues that had engaged the leaders in prolonged discussions were the composition of the proposed steering committee, the need for other committees for purposes like seat-sharing negotiations with prospective electoral partners and election propaganda work, and the possibility of changes in the functions and powers of key functionaries.

Sources indicated that as per an agreement worked out between the two camps, the steering committee could have six members from the Chief Minister's side and five from Mr. Panneerselvam's side, on the lines of what was agreed at the time of the merger of the two groups in 2017.