AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) leader O. Panneerselvam on Sunday night announced the disbanding of the seven-member committee formed to negotiate terms of a merger with the ruling AIADMK (Amma) signalling a breakdown in efforts to unify the warring groups.
Incidentally, though both AIADMK (PTA) and AIADMK (Amma) had constituted a panel each comprising seven members in April this year to work towards unification, the committees had never met formally. While former minister K.P. Munusamy headed the panel formed by the AIADMK (PTA), ex-minister Vaithilingam was the chairman of the AIADMK (Amma) panel.
Mr Panneerselvam’s announcement at a party meeting in Thiruverkadu near here, came a day after M. Natarajan, husband of jailed AIADMK (Amma) leader V.K. Sasikala, claimed that the two factions could even merge within a week. However, Mr Natarajan had queered the pitch by insisting that no conditions should be placed by either faction for the merger, indicating that Sasikala’s appointment as general secretary should not be called into question.
