Sasikala main sticking point in AIADMK merger talks
chennai — Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday ruled out any unity in the AIADMK until the now jailed V.K. Sasikala and her family was ousted from the party.
Speaking in Perikulam in Theni district, about 520 km from here, Panneerselvam said there cannot be any unification talks if Sasikala and her family members remained party members.
“Our stand is Sasikala and her family members should not be in the party,” he said.
Panneerselvam said AIADMK founder, the late M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), and the late J. Jayalalithaa were against any family controlling the party.
He said there was no change in his fundamental stance that the party and the government should not be under the control of one family.
According to him, MGR never involved his brother in party affairs when he founded the AIADMK and went on to rule Tamil Nadu for a decade until his death in 1987.
Panneerselvam said Jayalalithaa admitted only Sasikala into the party and none from the latter’s family. He also said that doubts regarding the death of Jayalalithaa, who passed away on December 5 while holding the post of Chief Minister, had to be cleared.
Asked if he would allow K. Palaniswami, a Sasikala backer, to remain the chief minister if the AIADMK unites, Pannerselvam said there was no point in talking about things that would not happen.
The AIADMK split into two after Jayalalithaa’s death. One faction is led by Sasikala and the other by Panneerselvam.
Meanwhile, Sasikala faction legislator Vetrivel questioned how a group of ministers discussed a patch-up without the consent of party Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran, a nephew of Sasikala.
On Monday night, several ministers discussed the issue of a patch-up with Panneerselvam.
Vetrivel told reporters in Chennai that the meeting of the ministers was “unofficial” and only those meetings held at the party office were “official”.
Accusing AIADMK (Amma) faction leader TTV Dhinakaran of committing “irregularities” in the run up to the now cancelled April 12 R K Nagar Assembly bypoll, he alleged that voters were paid cash by his camp.
He referred to the April 7 Income Tax raids at the premises of Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and the Delhi Police booking Dhinakaran for allegedly trying to
Our stand is Sasikala and her family members should not be in the party... We have undertaken a dharma yudh. And it is our basic duty to uncover the mystery behind Amma’s death, O. Panneerselvam, TN’s ex-CM
bribe an Election Commission official to retain ‘Two Leaves,’ a symbol both factions have been staking claim to.
“The middleman (Sukesh Chandrasekar) was caught through central intelligence. So we have been insisting that the (Sasikala) family to which we are opposed, had indulged in activities bringing disrepute to Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Talking about probe into the treatment and subsequent death of Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam said they would not rest “till there is a judicial probe”, a demand raised by the faction.
“We have undertaken a dharma yudh. And it is our basic duty to uncover the mystery behind Amma’s death,” he added.
The AIADMK suffered a vertical split on February 7 when Panneerselvam alleged that he was forced by Sasikala to make way for her elevation as Chief Minister.
The two factions had since staked claim to the two leaves symbol which the Election Commission subsequently froze.