While claiming that there were “some fears” among the Ministers that made them revolt against him, AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Wednesday said he was not against the merger of the two factions of the party. Going by outward appearances, he seemed nonchalant and unaffected by the development that saw Ministers who earlier supported him resolving to remove him from the party. However, on persistent questioning by the media, he went back and forth on his statements.
Earlier in the day (before leaving for a court hearing), he appeared confident and maintained that he had the support of all MLAs. A few hours later, his tone changed as he declared he had no problem in the decision to merge as long as it benefitted the party and the government in the long term.
When asked to elaborate on the “fears”, he said: “You ask them [Ministers] what they are.” However, Mr. Dhinakaran was wary of the idea of resigning.
Mr. Dhinakaran was wary of resigning his party post, contending it was the General Secretary (V.K. Sasikala) who appointed him as the Deputy General Secretary and he had to consult her [about quitting his post]. Later, when asked whether he would quit, he contradicted himself, saying he had stepped aside on Tuesday night itself.
Even as he claimed that he was a mature leader and accepted the decision of the party, he wondered how the Ministers who met him only three days ago could have gone against him. Later in the day, he thanked his supporters through his verified Twitter handle.
After persistent queries about his opinion on the merger, he said: “I'm not unhappy and am not happy.” Asked if he would gather support of MLAs and show his strength, he said, “I don't want to do anything against my party.”
“I didn’t enjoy anything so I have no regrets,” he added. Responding to another question on whether he should have waited for some more time before being appointed as the Deputy General Secretary, he said, “Previously, I was the treasurer of the party. Why should I wait? I was Member of Parliament twice. What is this?” A meeting of the AIADMK (Amma) MLAs called for on Wednesday evening by Mr. Dhinakaran soon after the Ministers revolted against him was called off eventually.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister D. Jayakumar said that Mr. Dhinakaran didn’t have the authority to call for an MLA meeting. His colleague and party presidium chairman K. A. Sengottaiyan said the meeting would not take place. It turns out that Mr. Dhinakaran himself cancelled the meeting later after his appearance was necessitated at a local court in connection with a FERA case.
CM to head party panel
Senior Ministers, who held the banner of revolt against Mr. Dhinakaran on Tuesday night held a meeting at the residence of Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday. Senior Ministers D. Jayakumar, K.A. Sengottaiyan and Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, were among those who attended.
Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Sreenivasan said, “We have decided to constitute a committee under Chief Minister Palaniswami, which will lead the party.”
( With inputs from R. Sivaraman and T.K. Rohit )
