AIADMK merger in limbo as OPS seeks Sasikala’s ouster
TRIGGER Move came after FIR against the jailed leader’s nephew Dinakaran
Reconciliation efforts of the two AIADMK factions in Tamil Nadu appeared tentative on Tuesday as former chief minister O Panneerselvam stuck to his demand for the ouster of the ruling group’s jailed leader, VK Sasikala, and her influential clan.
The merger move came after Delhi Police filed an FIR against the ruling AIADMK (Amma) group’s deputy general secretary, TTV Dinakaran, who is a nephew of Sasikala, on Sunday for allegedly trying to bribe officials of the Election Commission.
The poll panel will decide which of the two factions would get the two-leaf symbol of the AIADMK that split into AIADMK (Amma) and AIADMK Puratchi Thalavi Amma, after former chief minister J Jayalaithaa’s death on December 5.
A nine-member team of the AIADMK (Amma) leaders has been formed to negotiate with the Panneerselvam camp to draw up a merger formula, party sources said.
But Panneerselvam set tough conditions for talks — Sasikala has to step down as general secretary, members of her family must be divested of all posts and power in the party, and a probe should be instituted to know exactly under what circumstances Jayalalithaa died.
He stayed put in his native village, Theni, and reaffirmed the stand he took during his revolt against the Sasikala-led group that dominated the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death.
OPS, as he is called by his supporters, said party elections proclaiming Sasikala as the general secretary must be declared illegal.
“Sasikala and her family members were shown the door by Jayalalithaa and they came in through the backdoor and gained control of the party, and the government,” he said.
Unless the Sasikala clan is ousted, there can be no merger of the two factions, he declared.
The majority of the state’s ministers met on Monday night and resolved to begin merger talks in the overall interest of the party — especially to boost its prospects in the civic polls.
Deputy general secretary Dinakaran, who was meeting lawyers to deal with the bribery charge, is unhappy with the conditions set by the rival camp.
“Sasikala must continue as general secretary and TTV as deputy general secretary,” a legislator and Dinakaran loyalist said.
Another AIADMK (Amma) functionary, Vaidyaselvan, made it clear that if the other side remained rigid, talks are bound to fail. Apparently Dinakaran was not aware of the ministers’ meeting.
Chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami, a Sasikala appointee, picked two of his trusted colleagues to hold talks barely two months after the split. All ministers and party MLAs have been summoned to Chennai.
Officially, both sides say they are in favour of a merger to guard the government and party’s interests.
But it will hinge on two factors — who will head the unified party and who the chief minister would be.
Panneerselvan has his eyes set on the top post, saying there should be a new face of governance in the state.
He was stand-in chief minister twice when Jayalalithaa was alive, and briefly again after her death till a bitter factional feud engulfed the party and split it.
There is a growing anger against Sasikala, who is serving a four-year jail term in a corruption case, and her family’s stranglehold of the party after Jayalalithaa’s death. She named Dinakaran her deputy before she was jailed.