Velumani hints at merger of AIADMK and AMMK
CHENNAI: A day after VK Sasikala returned to Chennai after serving a four-year prison term in Bengaluru, Minister for Municipal Administration SP Velumani, on Tuesday, hinted at an AIADMK-AMMK merger calling the rivalry between the two parties as problems surfacing within a ‘family’.
“The problems we face is similar to a problem faced within a family. It is an issue between brothers. We can resolve it, but our common enemy is the DMK and we should defeat them,” said Velumani, at a party meeting in Coimbatore.
Velumani’s comment comes after Dhinakaran expressed his wish for a merger saying that they should stay united to win the upcoming Assembly election. He has remained largely silent on the issue of Sasikala so far even when the AIADMK ministers filed a complaint with the DGP against Sasikala using the AIADMK flag. Unlike Jayakumar, Shanmugam and Thangamani, Velumani has not publicly opposed her.
The statement coming from an influential minister
The problems we face is similar to a problem faced within a family. We can resolve it, but our common enemy is the DMK and we should defeat them —SP VELUMANI,
Minister for Municipal Administration
of the Gounder community has, once again, sent mixed signals regarding the AIADMK’s stand on AMMK and Sasikala with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami remaining firm that there is no place for Sasikala or TTV in the party. At a campaign meeting in Vellore on Tuesday night, EPS said that a group was trying to make the AIADMK weaker, referring to Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran.
“For 10 years, TTV has not been in the party and was reinstated back in the AIADMK after her death. He took away 18 MLAs from us and left them on the streets. Those who go after him will end up on the streets too,” he said. AIADMK spokesperson Vaigai Selvan said that even if the AIADMK accepts Sasikala, the people will not.
“We accepted Sasikala as our leader after the death of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa but people in the rural areas questioned why she was chosen as the leader and not someone else. People clearly did not accept Sasikala,” said Selvan.