Merger may not assure government’s survival, fears Panneerselvam camp

With around 20 MLAs under his control, Dhinakaran could rock the boat

August 12, 2017 12:28 am | Updated December 03, 2021 12:30 pm IST - CHENNAI

The AIADMK (Amma) and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) factions may be working for a merger, but the AIADMK government could still be in a crisis if the T.T.V Dhinakaran faction dares to strike.

Some of the leaders in the AIADMK (PTA) fear that Mr. Dhinakaran could topple the government if he manages to hold on to his flock of MLAs.

“We have to wait till a decision on Sasikala is arrived at by the Election Commission of India. But even a merged entity could face threat from the Dhinakaran camp,” a leader in the AIADMK (PTA) camp told The Hindu.

The reason for this apprehension is that Mr. Dhinakaran is deemed to have around 18-20 MLAs under his command. Considering that the Panneerselvam camp has only 10 MLAs, the government may fall short of the magical number of 117 even if the merger happens unless some more legislators supporting Mr. Dhinakaran are not won over.

Prof. Ramu Manivannan, Department of Politics, University of Madras, too felt that Mr. Dhinakaran would continue to be a key actor in AIADMK politics. “Even if the OPS-EPS factions merge, the party will still be split vertically with Dhinakaran having the support of some MLAs. This will still not be a merger of the party in totality,” he said.

According to Prof. Manivannan, even a combined OPS-EPS entity won’t have the financial wherewithal to take on the Sasikala family. “If Sasikala is disqualified by the EC, they [her family] might lose control, but only technically. The financial resources of the party, most of which are liquidated assets, are controlled by Sasikala and her family,” he said.

He reiterated that despite all the internal crisis in the party “they are divided by faction, but united in power. They won’t contest each other on the floor of the House [in case of a floor test]. But they will fight for the control of the party.”

Steering committee

One of the issues that would need to be addressed by the EPS-OPS camps would be the post of the general secretary in a unified AIADMK. While a senior leader in the OPS camp said it would take time to decide the issue and that they need to wait till the EC gives its verdict on Sasikala’s appointment, another leader said the way out would be a steering committee to lead the party.

On Thursday, the AIADMK (Amma) camp made it clear that its cadre wanted only the late Jayalalithaa as the “permanent general secretary” of the party.

“One thing we could come up with is the Steering Committee to lead the party with the Chairman vested with adequate powers,” the leader said. When asked how that would be possible since the party bye-laws do not allow such an arrangement, he said a meeting of the general council could be called and suitable amendments made.

Prof. Manivannan said the two factions would work out an arrangement where OPS and EPS are given some positions of power – one in the party and the other in government.

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