The AIADMK, which had nominated Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam and the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, A. Navaneethakrishnan, as its representatives for Wednesday’s meeting of leaders of various parties to discuss the idea of holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies, was left unrepresented during the occasion.
As the meeting itself was meant for the presidents of political parties represented in Parliament, the ruling party’s representatives were told that either coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam or co-coordinator and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami were the only ones allowed to take part. Immediately after he was denied entry, Mr. Shanmugam left for Chennai.
Apart from the CM or his deputy, the other person who could have made it to the meet is E. Madhusudanan, chairman of the party presidium, to whom the letter of invitation was sent by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines. But considering his health and given the importance of the issues to be discussed, the party felt that it would be better to send Mr. Shanmugam, who had been handling legal issues concerning the party and the State government. Mr. Shanmugam, Mr. Navaneethakrishnan and the former Advocate General of the State were among those who represented the ruling party on the same matter before the Law Commission in July last year.
While Mr. Palaniswami was pre-occupied with the review of the water supply situation in the State, Mr. Panneerselvam had been away for treatment in Coimbatore. An official source said the Deputy Chief Minister will leave for New Delhi on Thursday to take part in a conference of State Finance Ministers on Friday.