A day after T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the sidelined deputy general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Amma), announced that he would resume active political work after Friday (August 4), the Chief Minister and the party’s headquarters secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, called for a brainstorming meeting with Ministers, legislators and senior functionaries on Tuesday.
Dhinakaran sidelined
Slated to take place at the party headquarters, the meeting is expected to discuss the approach to be adopted by the Palaniswami camp in light of the decision of Mr. Dhinakaran to return to active party work. “The meet will also deliberate on the next course of action to be taken to facilitate the merger with the Panneerselvam camp,” a source says.
Ever since a group of Ministers told the media in mid-April that the party had chosen to keep Mr. Dhinakaran away, there has been no meeting between the CM and the sidelined leader. The latter was not part of the celebrations being held by the State government to mark the birth anniversary of the AIADMK’s founder M.G. Ramachandran. .
However, Mr. Palaniswami had deputed M. Thambi Durai, Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, to Bengaluru to meet the jailed interim general secretary and Mr. Dhinakaran’s aunt V.K. Sasikalabefore he announced the decision to support the BJP’s candidate for the presidential election, Ram Nath Kovind.
A senior Minister, who does not foresee any major impactfollowing Mr. Dhinakaran’s decision to get back to active politics, says the party will adopt the “business as usual” approach.
On the other hand, Thangatamilselvan, a legislator supporting Mr. Dhinakaran, says the party is ‘drifting’, and only the latter can arrest this trend.
