The switching over of Kavundampalayam MLA V. C. Arukutty from the O. Panneerselvam camp to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s camp will have minimal impact, say AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) members.
On the other hand, AIADMK (Amma) faction members say that Arukutty’s movement is only the first of the many that will take place soon.
Mr. Arukutty’s move comes days ahead of a meeting the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) had planned in Coimbatore. It was to be a show of strength in the Kongu region, particularly in Coimbatore that saw three MLAs support Mr. Panneerselvam.
The Kavundampalayam MLA led from the front, followed by Mettupalayam MLA O.K. Chinnaraj. Coimbatore North MLA P.R.G. Arunkumar joined them just ahead of the vote of confidence on February 18.
Nearly six months after he threw his weight behind Mr. Panneerselvam, Mr. Arukutty has made yet another move – this time back to the AIADMK (Amma) camp. He had told journalists that his move was in deference to the wishes of the people of his constituency.
Brewing resentment
Some leaders claim that Mr. Arukutty had been sulking for quite sometime and had switched sides despite opposition from second line leaders in the constituency. To buttress their contention, they pointed out that the MLA went and met the Chief Minister with only his son beside him.
The immediate impact of this would be that the Coimbatore conference of the AIADMK (PTA) could see fewer people, for the responsibility of mobilising cadre rested with the three MLAs. In the long term, there would be no impact because he did not enjoy much of cadre support, they reasoned.
Mr. Arukutty’s move would definitely add strength to AIADMK (Amma) but would not bring about a significant change because two senior leaders from the Kavundampalayam were already with them – Krishnasamy of S.S. Kulam and K. Jayaraman of Vilankurichi – said an insider from the camp.
AIADMK (Amma) leader and Deputy Speaker of the TN Assembly Pollachi V. Jayaraman said the objective was to unite the party and that would happen very soon.
