After hinting at an alliance with the BJP for the local body polls, the AIADMK faction, led by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, retracted saying a decision on alliance with any party would be taken only after the date for the polls are announced.
The message assumed significance since only on Friday, a team of leaders led by Mr. Panneerselvam with AIADMK MP V. Maitreyan, who had a long stint in the BJP, former Minister K.P. Munusamy and Manoj Pandian met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the political situation with him.
On Saturday morning, the office of Mr Panneerselvam tweeted, “We will take a decision on alliance with the BJP once local body elections are announced.”
The tweet went viral and the media houses began playing it up. An hour later another tweet said, “We mean that only after the announcement of the local body election will we think about the alliance with any political party.”
Asked about the sudden change, AIADMK MLA and a prominent leader of Panneerselvam faction, S. Semmalai said the question posed to Mr Panneerselvam had been misconstrued as an alliance.
“He was asked whether our group would have an alliance with the BJP in the local body polls and he had said a decision on alliance with any party would be decided only the date for election is announced. It was tweeted as if an alliance with the BJP would be decided after announcement of polls,” he said.
Mr. Maitreyan said in a reply to question of a private channel, Mr. Panneerselvam said party leaders would discuss and take a decision once the date for election was announced. “Nowhere he said there would be an alliance with the BJP,” Maitreyan clarified.
In the meanwhile, those who are handling Mr Panneerselvam's social media have been asked to be careful and discuss with him before coming out with important messages.
Asked whether he was ruling out an alliance with the BJP, he said the question did not arise since there was no election.
“Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami does not have the courage to hold elections to the local bodies. Election to the Lok Sabha will be held only in 2019. The only possibility is a snap poll to the State Assembly if the government crumbles on the weight of its own contradictions,” Mr. Maitreyan said.
