With the camp of Chief Minister and co-coordinator of the ruling AIADMK Edappadi K Palaniswami hardening its stand towards former interim general secretary of the party V.K. Sasikala and her nephew-cum-general secretary of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the calls made by her and the AMMK leader for unification may not fructify for the time being.
On Wednesday morning, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, who is regarded as the de facto spokesperson of the Cabinet, alluded to the reception given to Ms. Sasikala on her return from Bengaluru a few days ago and described the event as “passing clouds”. He sought to equate her and Mr. Dhinakaran with the principal Opposition party, DMK. Later in the day, Mr. Palaniswami declared that one family, meaning that of Ms. Sasikala, would not be allowed to dominate the party.
As for Ms. Sasikala’s journey from Bengaluru to Chennai, which lasted nearly 23 hours, a senior leader in the Chief Minister’s camp observed that a mere display of strength does not lead to any electoral success.
He recalled how Janaki Ramachandran, who became Chief Minister soon after the death of AIADMK founder and her husband M.G. Ramachandran in December 1987, got a massive rally organised in Madurai in February 1988 to mark her launch into politics. At that time, the train that she took for the temple city — Pandiyan Express — reached the destination seven hours behind schedule as her supporters held it up at almost every station, beginning from Chengalpattu, to give her a reception. This was then considered similar to what M.G. Ramachandran himself had in 1972, when the same train took nine hours more to reach Madurai, with his followers according him a welcome.
By recounting this episode, the veteran leader of Mr. Palaniswami’s camp conveyed the message that Janaki Ramachandran, despite receiving a rousing reception initially, did not get elected to the Assembly in 1989 even from Andipatti, which was bagged by her husband five years earlier while remaining at a New York hospital.
Notwithstanding such a strong language, there are leaders in both camps who believe that a compromise could happen “suddenly”. When the groups led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki Ramachandran, which bitterly fought each other in the run up to the 1989 Assembly election, could come together immediately after the election, why cannot these groups unite, they wondered. These leaders observe that the two camps should not forget that the division in the AIADMK vote paved the way for the DMK’s return to power in 1989 after a gap of 13 years.
However, critics of the Sasikala group said there are dissimilarities. Primarily, Janaki Ramachandran did not suffer from any adverse public perception and at the time of unification, she quit politics gracefully.
But the same could not be said of Ms. Sasikala. Her appointment as interim general secretary of the AIADMK in late December 2016 was followed by reports of disenchantment among several sections of society.
She had also declared the other day that she would play an active role in politics. This is why chances of rapprochement appear remote, the critics added.
