No headway in merger talks as OPS camp sticks to its demands
has been no headway in merger talks between the two warring AIADMK factions in Tamil Nadu, where political situation remains uncertain.
On Monday, the group led by former chief minister O Panneerselvam reiterated its twin demands – ouster of VK Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran and probe into CM J Jayalalithaa’s death – as preconditions for talks.
The rival camp led by chief minister Edapaddi Palaniswami, a Sasikala loyalist, was speaking in different voices.
The ruling party in the southern state split into Sasikala-led AIADMK (Amma) and Panneerselvam’s AIADMK Puratchi Thalavi Amma after the death of party founder Jayalalithaa in December.
Sasikala, a close aide of Jayalalithaa, is serving a four-year jail term in a corruption case. Her nephew, Dinakaran, looks after the ruling party as its deputy secretary.
Addressing mediapersons after a series of meetings on Monday, senior Panneerselvam faction leader and Rajya Sabha member V Maitreyan said Sasikala and Dinakaran should be expelled from the party, which should be freed from the clutches of the “Mannargudi mafia”.
“Mannargudi mafia” is a derisive reference to Sasikala’s hometown and the alleged cor- rupt dealings of her family that enjoyed immense clout in early days of Jayalalithaa’s rule.
“We had heard that the EPS camp had formed a seven-member committee and so did we. There are confusing statements emanating from the EPS camp,” Maitreyan said, referring to the faction led by the chief minister.
EV Shanmugam, a senior leader from the EPS camp, said the committee was yet to be formed. “The CM has just come from Delhi and is yet to constitute a committee for talks,” he said.
Another senior Panneerselvam camp leader also expressed surprise over different statements coming from the other side.
KP Munuswamy told media that “as people did not believe that Jayalalithaa died a natural death, it was imperative that a thorough probe be carried out into all circumstances revolving around her death”.