Want to fight 2021 polls under united AIADMK, say allies

CHENNAI: At a time when the ruling is caught in a stiff battle between two giants - Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam – over the chief ministerial candidate, its allies want to face the 2021 Assembly elections only under a united AIADMK.

“BJP, one of the key partners in the alliance, wants only a united AIADMK to fight the polls. The ongoing friction between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam is all set to end on October 7 when the Chief Minister candidate of the ruling party is announced,” BJP State Secretary K Srinivasan told DT Next. As the Assembly election work has been gaining momentum in the State, as expected the leadership tussle has started to surface in the AIADMK, according to political observers. After the death of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and imprisonment of V K Sasikala, the party split into two factions, under Palaniswami and Panneerselvam. Both the factions reunited following an agreement that Panneerselvam will head the party and Palaniswami the government. However, as the tenure of the government will come to an end in another six to eight months and even before the time ends, the issue of leadership had cropped up in the party.

The dispute became intense in the recent Executive Committee (EC) meeting between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam and many, even within the party, had started expecting a second ‘Dharmayutham’ by Panneerselvam.

However, none of the partners in the ruling party’s alliance want even a small crack within the AIADMK. “There will not be second ‘Dharmayutham’ by Panneerselvam. They will stay together like they did for the past three years,” said Srinivasan.

U Thaniyarasu, leader of Kongu Ilaignar Peravai, another ally, said that his party too wanted to fight the next year’s election only under one AIADMK . “Panneerselvam was chosen by Jayalalithaa and Palaniswami was chosen by Sasikala and both are close to me. I wish both to be united for the betterment of the party,” said Thaniyarasu.

He also said that unlike other alliance partners he had been with AIADMK for more than 10 years and so he would like to see the party stay united the way it remained in the times of Jayalalithaa. However, political analysts feel that alliance parties would not gain much from AIADMK in the coming election. “The relationship of BJP and PMK with AIADMK is like a rat-frog relationship as both BJP and PMK have larger aspirations,” said political analyst Raveenthran Duraisamy.

There will not be a second ‘Dharmayutham’ by Panneerselvam. They will stay together like they did for the past three years —K Srinivasan, BJP State secretary