AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday relieved 26 rebel district secretaries from their positions.

The district secretaries who were removed, included Natham R. Viswanathan, S.P. Velumani, C.Ve. Shanmugam, R. Kamaraj and C. Vijayabaskar. Of the ousted functionaries, 12 are currently the legislators of the party. The remaining eight are R. Kamaraj, K.P. Anbalagan, K.C. Veeramani, Esakki Subaya, M.R. Vijayabhaskar, P. Balakrishna Reddy, A. Arumozhithevan and S.M. Sukumar.

Mr. Palaniswami appointed 14 new district secretaries and restructured some other district units to have nine new office-bearers. Among those given the party’s post are former Minister Dindigul C.Sreenivasan (for the district unit of Dindigul - east), Neyveli legislator R. Rajendran (Cuddalore - south), former MP C. Sivasami (Tiruppur - suburban) and former MLA V.P.B. Paramasivam (Dindigul-west).

Later in the day, Mr. Shanmugam questioned the authority of Mr. Palaniswami in carrying out the removal of the district secretaries.