The merger of the AIADMK factions led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam remains elusive with both sides sticking to their stand.
The committees formed to work out the modalities for the merger have not even met once and the future of the government also seems uncertain. The Panneerselvam camp is keen that he be made the general secretary of the party as well as the Chief Minister.
On Friday, Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam attended meetings in Madurai and Kancheepuram respectively and asserted their positions. Moreover, a section of MLAs led by former Minister Thoppu N.D. Venkatachalam from the Kongu belt held a secret meeting a couple of days ago and expressed unhappiness over the performance of the government.
At a meeting presided over by Mr. Panneerselvam at Kancheepuram on Friday, party MP V. Maitreyan said there was no government worth the name in Tamil Nadu.
“The government will fall by the weight of the investigations into the allegations against Ministers. A no-confidence motion also might bring it down,” Mr. Maitreyan said.
Asked whether the talks had hit the roadblock, he said the question did not arise because the committees formed to hold talks have not yet met once.
Shanmugam’s charge
Law Minister C.V. Shanmugam accused Mr. Panneerselvam and his supporters of not showing any interest in the merger. “Instead they are coming out with one demand after another. There is nothing in world that cannot be resolved through talks. But they are not ready to sit and discuss,” said Mr. Shanmugam.
But Mr. Maitreyan said talks could begin only if the demands of his camp were met. “They [Palaniswami camp] are not ready to consider even one of our demands. They have just announced that Sasikala and T.T.V. Dhinakaran have been sidelined from the party. But we want their expulsion from the party. Similarly the government is not ready to seek a CBI inquiry into the death of Jayalalithaa and they just want to order a judicial inquiry,” said Mr. Maitreyan.
Mr. Shanmugam said even though his camp had the support of majority MLAs, the rival group sought to dictate terms. “They are on the streets. We do not know what is on their minds,” he said.
Mr. Paneerselvam and his supporters feel that if Sasikala and her family were not formally expelled from the party they might stage a comeback one day and sideline them and such a situation would leave them with little sympathy among the people.
A former minister said Mr. Palaniswami should first take steps to rescind the expulsion of presidium chairman E. Madhusoodhanan and Mr. Panneerselvam.
When asked about the merger plans, Electricity Minister P. Thangamani said the efforts were still on to bring both the camps together.
