Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and 13 other rebel leaders of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam formed a new General Council and party Parliamentary Board on Sunday. Senior AIADMK leader E Madhusudanan said he had appointed the members as per party rules, PTI reported.

“Since the post of party general secretary is now vacant, I appoint new members to the Parliamentary Board,” he added in a statement. Madhusudanan said the “original AIADMK” had formed the General Council and named him party presidium chairman, a post second to only the general secretary’s.

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“Only the party general secretary has the authority to name members for the top party body,” he said, suggesting that the board formed by AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala was not valid. Sasikala had removed Madhusudanan from the post of presidium chairman after he declared his support for OPS. He said on Sunday that Sasikala was merely the “interim general secretary” with no authority to remove him the position, according to Deccan Chronicle.

The news comes three days after Sasikala’s supporters reconstituted the AIADMK Parliamentary Board. The new 14-member body includes senior leaders such as former minister C Ponnaiyan, Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan, former School Education Minister K Pandiarajan. They had held a meeting soon after the new board was announced, after which former minister KP Munusamy said they would choose a candidate for the RK Nagar seat, left vacant since former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death.

Panneerselvam and his supporters have been fighting to gain control of the Tamil Nadu ruling party, alleging autocracy by Sasikala and her supporters. She had appointed her nephew TTV Dinakaran the AIADMK Deputy General Secretary the day the Supreme Court convicted her in a case of disproportionate assets. Sasikala’s pick Edappadi Palaniswami won 122-11 during a floor test held on February 18 and now heads Tamil Nadu as its chief minister.