Chennai, Aug 20 : The AIADMK will on Sunday hold its first state conference after the appointment of former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) as the party general secretary. This is the first conference after the rival faction in the party led by O. Panneerselvam(OPS) was expelled from the party. The mega conference titled 'Ezhuchi Mannadu' was announced in April 2023 and is to give a big boost to the fortunes of the AIADMK. The AIADMK is holding the state level conference at Madurai in South Tamil Nadu as the Southern part of the state is considered as a strong hold of O.Panneerselvam and T.T.V Dhinakaran, the general secretary of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, the nephew of former interim general secretary of AIADMK, V.K. Shashikala. OPS, Dhinakaran and Shashikala belong to the powerful Thevar community of South Tamil Nadu and EPS is holding the conference at the stronghold of Thevar community to prove the detractors wrong that the community is with OPS and supporters. Lakhs of party cadres are expected to attend the public programme to be held at the 65 acre conference ground in Mandela Nagar. Twelve parking lots are arranged for parking of vehicles that transport the cadres and food counters are also opened at the ground. It may be noted that the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) is on a backfoot given the facts that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and in the 2021 Assembly elections the party faced crushing defeats. In the panchayat and in the urban local body elections also, the party faced huge defeats. The Madurai conference is considered to be a turning point for Edappadi K. Palaniswami and the AIADMK before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. /IANS