Palaniswami to be AIADMK CM candidate for Tamil Nadu Elections 2021: Report

Incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will likely be the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK's) candidate for the top post in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled for 2021, sources said.

Sources told ANI that in AIADMK's executive party meet held on Monday, the topic of the CM post candidate was debated for more than five hours with Palaniswami's deputy O Panneerselvam also in the race.

The party's deputy coordinator KP Munusamy said the formal announcement regarding the same will be done on October 7.

One of the points raised during the meeting was that if the current CM is not the candidate for the upcoming elections it can make the party and its government a subject of ridicule for the Opposition, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Palaniswami got backing from senior leaders S Semmalai, P Thangamani, CV Shanmugam and Natham R Viswanathan in the meeting.

A top source in the party, who himself was earlier backing Panneerselvam before the merger, told ANI that the debate around the CM post candidate should be considered settled now with most of the leaders agreeing with the final outcome "as of now" to Palaniswami as a candidate for 2021 elections.

Both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam are scheduled to jointly announce the CM candidate's name for the elections scheduled for 2021 on October 7.