AIADMK deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Monday night slammed the merger of the AIADMK (Amma) and AIADMK (PTA) factions, saying this would not last long and the cadre of the party will not forgive the betrayal of O. Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
In a series of tweets late on Monday night, Mr. Dhinakaran, who had earlier tweeted he was unwell, hit out at the two leaders. “What happened today was not a merger. This is like sharing a bed for selfish motives and being power hungry. This is a commercial deal,” Mr. Dhinakaran tweeted.
He said in 1989 the party cadre had joined hands under the leadership of Jayalalithaa. “But, today, they are announcing that they will remove the General Secretary whom they themselves chose. This betrayal will not be accepted by the cadre,” he said, adding that the party cadre and the people of the State won’t forgive these two leaders who betrayed the person (Sasikala) who made them the Chief Minister.
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Mr. Dhinakaran also questioned how the cadres will accept the fact that the EPS government had joined hands with Mr. Panneerselvam who was responsible for the freezing of the two-leaves symbol. “How will these betrayers retrieve the symbol?,” he asked.
He also asked how the EPS camp was able to accept Mr. Panneerselvam who had accused them of corruption till recently. “My political journey will continue to remove the stains caused by these betrayers and to fulfill the wishes of crores of our party cadre,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the 18 MLAs, who were closeted with him since morning, headed to the Jayalalithaa memorial on the Marina late in the evening and sat in silence for about 15 to 20 minutes and announced that they would call on the Governor on Tuesday morning.
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MLAs P. Palaniappan, V. Senthil Balaji, S.T.K. Jakkaiyan, S. Mariappan Kennady, K. Kathirkamu, C. Jayanthi Padmanabhan, M. Rengasamy, R. Sundararaj, T.A. Elumalai, S.G. Subramanian, M. Kothandapani, R. Thangadurai, R.R. Murugan, R. Balasubramani, N.G. Parthiban and M. Kothandapani are among those who are backing Mr. Dhinakaran.
Asked what Mr. Dhinakaran intended to do, a senior leader and MLA supporting him said, “You will have to wait and see. Our plan of action would depend on their actions.”
Meanwhile, Sasikala’s brother Divakaran told a TV channel that though he was happy about the merger it had not turned out the way they had intended. Jayalalithaa’s ‘soul’ would not favour sidelining Sasikala any day, he said.
Not on agenda
Meanwhile, senior AIADMK leader and Minister O.S. Manian said Mr. R. Vaithilingam’s statement about removing Sasikala was the latter’s personal opinion and the issue was not on the agenda during the meeting held to mark the merger of the factions on Monday. “It may be his [Mr. Vaithilingam’s] personal opinion. But, the issue was not discussed in the meeting. It was the General Council which elected her to become the General Secretary and hence only the General Council can decide on that issue,” Mr. Manian said.