The 67-year-old Deputy Chief Minister and co-ordinator of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) O. Panneerselvam may appear to be lying low in recent months. However, his official residence on Greenways Road in Chennai continues to draw party members and senior party colleagues. On Thursday, he spoke to The Hindu on a range of questions that have been on the minds of the people of the State. He stressed many times over that the AIADMK would not, and should not, be allowed to be dominated by “any single family.” He also indicated that an alliance with like-minded parties was possible for the Lok Sabha polls. Excerpts:
There is a perception that it was because of the support provided by V.K.Sasikala’s family that you were catapulted to the position of Chief Minister in September 2001, even though the party had many senior leaders?
I have replied to this question in the past too. A few months after Amma [Jayalalithaa] became Chief Minister in March 2002 and I was made Minister with nine portfolios, she made it clear to me that it was she and not anybody else who had made me the Chief Minister in 2001. On the day Amma was found guilty by a Bengaluru court in September 2014, she called me inside the court room. This was during a break and the judge [John Michael] Cunha had not yet pronounced the quantum of punishment. Amma told me to become the Chief Minister again. Since she felt that it would not carry weight among the party MLAs if I had to convey her message to them, she sent for [the then Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan [who waited outside the court]. Amma asked him to convene a meeting of the party legislators and tell them that it was on her direction that I was being made the Chief Minister. Such was the level of clarity of thought of Amma even in her moment of personal crisis. This also shows the confidence she had reposed in me.
How is the party being run since the merger of two factions [led by Mr. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami] in September 2017?
It is going on smoothly. I had agreed to the merger without any condition, as I did not want the government, which was established by Amma, to be unseated. Besides, [T.T.V.] Dhinakaran had been doing everything then to ensure the collapse of the government. As far as I am concerned, the purpose for which I had started the “dharmayudham” should be realised and this was why I accepted the merger plan.
How do you feel working with Mr. Palaniswami?
There is no problem. He consults me often. Opposition parties are trying to create an artificial impression aggressively among party members and people as if we are not functioning cohesively. A section of the media is supporting them.
Has the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) founder Dhinakaran eroded the base of the AIADMK in southern districts ?
Only disgruntled elements and those who have not got positions in the party are there with Mr. Dhinakaran. Our base remains intact.
Is there any possibility for rapproachement with the group led by Mr. Dhinakaran in the interests of the party?
Both Puratchi Thalaviar (MGR) and Amma were against the dominance of a single family. Puratchi Thalaivar, while in the DMK, had protested the domination of the family of [former Chief Minister] M. Karunanidhi in the affairs of the party. Amma had followed the same path. Except one person [Sasikala], she did not take the other members of the family back into the fold. Would it not be a betrayal of their policy if we deviate from this? Hereafter, there is no question of any family, let alone hers [Sasikala’s], dominating the party. In a democratic way, any ordinary worker of the party can make it to the top, just as Edappadi Palaniswami and I have done. That is what we stand for.
What is your response to the criticism that the AIADMK is functioning as the ‘B’ team of the Bharatiya Janata Party?
It is a false and artificial view. The AIADMK, as a party, and our government have been striving hard for the rights of the State on issues of livelihood. There is no compulsion for the AIADMK to conduct itself as per the dictates of those who are running the government at the Centre. But, the DMK’s case was different.
Is your party open to having an alliance with others, including the BJP, during the Lok Sabha polls?
Senior office-bearers of the party will take a call if like-minded parties approach us.
