Edappadi K. Palaniswami (born 12 May 1954), also known as E.P.S., is an Indian politician and the

leader of opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

. He served as the 7th

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the Interim

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Since 11 July 2022, which was upheld by the

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

on 2 September 2022. Palaniswami served as the Joint Coordinator of the AIADMK from 2017 to 2022. He also served as the Headquarters Secretary of the AIADMK from 2014 to 2022. Palaniswami has represented Edappadi since 2011 as

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

, previously serving from 1989 to 1996. In the

1998 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 16, 22 and 28 February 1998 to elect the members of the 12th Lok Sabha. The elections were held three years ahead of schedule after the government led by Inder Kumar Gujral collapsed when the Indian Nati ...

he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

representing Tiruchengode. When AIADMK won the

2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election The Fourteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members from 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Results were released on 13 May 2011. Two major parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All In ...

, he was given a ministerial berth by

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

and served as the Minister of Highways and Minor Ports on 16 May 2011 for the government of Tamil Nadu. After

2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election The Fifteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 16 May 2016 for the 232 seats (except Thanjavur and Aravakurichi for which held on 26 October 2016) of the Legislative Assembly in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. AIADMK under J. Jayal ...

victory, he was given the additional responsibility of Ministry of Public Works by J. Jayalalithaa.

Personal life

Palaniswami was born on 12 May 1954 to Karuppa Gounder and Thavasiyammal at Siluvampalayam,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and c ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(now in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

). His parents were farmers. After completing school, he enrolled for

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in Sri Vasavi College but did not graduate. He was the students union leader at college. He has a brother Govindraj and a sister Ranjitham. He is married to Ratha Palaniswami and has one son and is an agriculturalist by occupation.

Political career

Palaniswami entered politics as a volunteer for the AIADMK in 1974. Later he became the key member of the party in Salem district. He was first elected to the

in 1989, representing Edappadi constituency, and won re-election in 1991. He was elected

, representing Tiruchengodu constituency in the

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

. He emerged a dominant force in the AIADMK in the Western belt during late 1990s. He was appointed Propaganda Secretary in July 2006 and Organizing Secretary in 2007. He was elected from Edappadi constituency in 2011 and 2016 when the AIADMK emerged as a ruling party. He slowly gained prominence as one of the strong confidants of

J.Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

along with O. Paneerselvam and Dindigul C.Sreenivasan. He served as the Minister of Highways and Minor Ports in the

O. Panneerselvam Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS (born 14 January 1951) is an Indian politician who served as the .Coordinator of AIADMK 6th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 6 December 2016 to 15 February 2017 and as the 2nd Deputy Chief ...

and in his own ministry from 2011. In 2014, he was appointed headquarters secretary of Aiadmk, by succeeding

K. A. Sengottaiyan K. A. Sengottaiyan (born 9 January 1948) is an Indian politician. He is the former Minister for School Education in the Government of Tamil Nadu. He also served as the party presidium chairman of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. H ...

Chief Minister, 2017-2021

Palaniswami became the

in February 2017, following the resignation of

, who became chief minister after the demise of former chief minister

who won the 2016 Legislative Assembly election as CM candidate of AIADMK. He was sworn in on 16 February 2017 before a crowd of party workers, along with his 32-member cabinet. Palaniswami also holds the charge of Home, Prohibition & Excise Departments along with the other portfolios normally held by the Chief Ministers, and not mentioned elsewhere. He is elected from Edappadi constituency. During his reign, he introduced various schemes like Kudimaramaththu Work, FAME India scheme and Amma Patrol in Tamil Nadu to ascertain the security of women and children in public places. In May 2018, police opened fire on protests against a Sterlite plant that was polluting local groundwater in Thoothukudi, killing 13 people. While ordering a one-man commission into the violence, Palaniswami also declared the shootings were in "self-defence." On 28 May, Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu Government ordered the permanent closure of the Sterlite Copper plant. “The

Amma Amma or AMMA may refer to: Acronym * American Medical Marijuana Association * Amhara Mass Media Agency (created in 1993), a media organisation in Amhara Region in Ethiopia * Association of Malayalam Movie Artists * Assistant Masters' and Mist ...

government has issued an order to have the Sterlite plant closed down permanently in deference to the sentiments of the people of Thoothukudi,” then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami told journalists in the evening after chairing a meeting of his party legislators at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai. However, during the 2019 elections, AIADMK contested in alliance with the BJP and was swept out of parliament when the DMK-led alliance won 38 out of 39 seats in the state. In 2019 he went on a 13-day tour in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

to promote foreign investment in Tamil Nadu. While there he launched the ''Yaadhum Oore'' programme (lit. all countries, based on ''Puranauru'' 192) to encourage the Tamil diaspora to re-invest in Tamil Nadu, in the same line as other states with large NRI populations such as

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. During trip he secured 3 lakh crores worth of foreign investment, a greater amount than even his predecessor Jayalalithaa did. In February 2020, Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu government declared the Cauvery delta region as a Protected Special Agriculture Zone. The announcement was widely hailed by political parties and farmers organisations. In 2020, Palaniswami led AIADMK government passed order for 7.5% Quota in Medical Admissions for Govt. School Students. He took action to set up government medical colleges in newly formed 11 districts which offered 1,650 more seats to then existing 3,400 seats. Under his governance, Tamil Nadu was rated as the best governed state based on a composite index in the context of sustainable development according to the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre in Oct. 2020. Palaniswami is also praised for his administration during the coronavirus pandemic. Tamil Nadu was one of the few states that did not register negative growth in the period of pandemic. During his regime,

was the best performing big state overall from the year 2018 to 2021. With a gross state domestic product of $290 billion or Rs 21.6 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu became India's second-largest economy. In 2020, the study “States of the State” of India Today, said that Palaniswami led Tamil Nadu has topped in 11 categories from a total of 12, including economy, tourism, infrastructure, inclusive development, law and order, along with entrepreneurship, cleanliness, environment, health, education and agriculture. Tamil Nadu had been chosen for this recognition for the third consecutive year. On 3 May 2021, Palaniswami resigned as Chief Minister following AIADMK's defeat in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Election.

Leader of the Opposition, 2021

After the party lost the assembly elections in May 2021, Palaniswami won the Edappadi constituency and was elected as the Leader Of the Opposition in

Leadership Tussle with O. Panneerselvam, 2022

On 14 June 2022, citing the party's troubles in the polls, AIADMK district secretaries and other senior party members spoke out to shun the “dual leadership” system and came out publicly in favor of strong unitary leader to strengthen the organisation. Edappadi K. Palaniswami supporters pushed for the change in the party's leadership structure by staging a political coup against AIADMK Coordinator

, who had become weak within the party. According to many sources, of the AIADMK’s 75 district secretaries, hardly 10 supported him. Of the party’s 66 MLAs, only five MLAs were reportedly on O. Panneerselvam side and less than 20 percent of the party’s general council members behind him ahead of crucial general council meeting on 23 June 2022, which was expected to elect the single leadership to the party. On 23 June 2022, A. Tamil Magan Hussain was unanimously elected as the Presidium Chairman of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in

Vanagaram Vanagaram, which is pronounced as Vaanagaram, is a residential neighborhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. On 30 June 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami wrote a letter to

asserting the latter ceased to be the party coordinator as the amendments made to the party’s bylaw in the 2020 December executive committee meeting were not recognised in the general council meeting held on 23 June.

General Secretary of AIADMK

On 11 July 2022, The Party General Council abolished the dual leadership model and empowered Edappadi K. Palaniswami to be the ''Party Supremo''. The General Council also expelled the Treasurer

and his loyalists

R. Vaithilingam R. Vaithilingam is an Indian politician and an ex- Rajya Sabha member from the state of Tamil Nadu. He is now present Member of legislative assembly from Orathanad constituency in the state assembly election of 2021. Vaithilingam was Minister ...

P. H. Manoj Pandian P. H. Manoj Pandian (born 8 August 1971) is a politician and current Member of the Legislative Assembly for Alangulam constituency. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All Indi ...

J. C. D. Prabhakar J. C. D. Prabhakar is an Indian politician and was a member of the Fourteenth Assembly of Tamil Nadu, 14th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Villivakkam (State Assembly Constituency), Villivakkam constituency in Chennai District. He repres ...

from their respective posts and primary memberships of the party for "anti-party" activities. On 11 July 2022, Edappadi K. Palaniswami was unanimously elected as the Interim General Secretary of the party at a general council meeting held at the Shrivaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace in Vanagaram, Chennai. On 17 August, the

however nullified the decisions of the AIADMK General Council and ordered mainitaing the staus quo as on 23 June 2022. On 2 September 2022, a

division bench A Division Bench is a term in judicial system in India in which a case is heard and judged by ''at least'' 2 judges. However, if the bench during the hearing of any matter feels that the matter needs to be considered by a larger bench, such a ...

of the Madras High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 June 2022 and set aside the previous court order of the single judge in the appeal case of Edappadi K. Palaniswami, thus effectively restoring unitary leadership.

Elections contested and positions held

Lok Sabha elections

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections

Posts in Parliament of India

Posts in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

References

External links

Official Biographical Sketch in Lok Sabha Website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palaniswami, Edappadi K. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Chief ministers from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Living people 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Indian Tamil politicians Tamil Nadu politicians State cabinet ministers of Tamil Nadu People from Salem district Tamil Nadu MLAs 2011–2016 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2016–2021 1954 births Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1998–1999 Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu MLAs 1991–1996 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026