Chennai, Dec 4 (PTI) AIADMK top leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswamy are set to be elected unopposed for the first time in organisational polls as party Coordinator and Joint Coordinator respectively.

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The duo, all smiles, on Saturday filed nominations together at the party headquarters to contest for the posts, the last day to file papers for the apex party positions.

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Party sources said the applications of Panneerselvam and Palaniswamy alone were received when the deadline ended on Saturday 3 PM to submit papers for the two top party posts.

Party office-bearers at various levels, former Ministers and district secretaries have been filing papers, backing the nomination papers of the two leaders, a party release said.

On December 1, the AIADMK amended its bylaws at its executive committee meet here to retain and strengthen the present leadership structure of top two positions held by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami.

According to the changes, the coordinator and joint coordinator would be elected by the party's primary members.

While the posts are two, there cannot be separate votes, as the twin positions together constitute the party top leadership, effectively a single entity.

The AIADMK had said that amendments to bylaws came into immediate effect, adding that approval would be sought for such decisions in the next party general council meeting.

In 2017, the till then top post of General Secretary (GS) was 'eternally' set apart for Jayalalithaa and a new leadership structure of coordinator and joint coordinator was evolved.

Panneerselvam and Palaniswami were appointed to the posts in the general council meeting that year.

The AIADMK had said that applications for the posts of coordinator and co-coordinator could be obtained and filed on two days, December 3 and 4 by eligible partymen.

The applications would be scrutinised on Sunday and December 6 is the last date to withdraw nominations.

While the party had said that December 7 shall be the 'day of voting', it is now expected that the two leaders would be declared elected unanimously.

Avvai Shanmugam Salai, where the party headquarters is located here, witnessed chaotic scenes for a while when a person, suspected to be an 'intruder' in the party's organisational poll process, was allegedly manhandled by AIADMK workers.

A similar chaos was witnessed on Friday as well, the opening day to file papers for the two top party posts.

The AIADMK, meanwhile, referring to the ongoing organisational poll process, lodged a complaint with Chennai Police Commissioner and jurisdictional police station, seeking police protection to the party headquarters.

The complaints said that the party apprehended trouble from people like those expelled from the party and anti-socials.

Such elements had plans to unleash violence in the garb of submitting nomination papers in the party HQ, the plaints said, seeking appropriate police action.

Jayalalithaa was the last person to hold the post of GS.

Sasikala was named interim GS following the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016.

Subsequently, Sasikala was eased out of the party, which she has challenged in a court here.

Organisaitonal polls for several other positions across Tamil Nadu will be held later this month.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)