Chennai: The TTV camp on Monday launched a direct attack on Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami with its main lieutenant Vetrivel sternly warning the CM of ‘serious consequences’ if he chooses to remain “a Narasimha Rao’ and stay mum without stopping his MLAs and MPs from seeking the ejection of ‘Chinnamma’ Sasikala and ‘Annan’ TTV from AIADMK affairs.
Almost accusing the CM of playing a double game, Vetrivel said EPS “cannot remain silent when one member after another in our party comes out every other day declaring that ‘Chinnamma’ and ‘Annan’ TTV do not matter and they must be kept out”. The CM should halt these outrageous proclamations as otherwise it could mean he was sponsoring them.
“"They have even torn down Chinnamma’s banners at the party headquarters. There will be serious consequences if this continues. There is a limit to our patience”, thundered Vetrivel, speaking to the media outside TTV’s Adyar bungalow. His ire was triggered by party MP, G. Hari, who told reporters at Tiruttani earlier in the day that TTV should refrain from meddling in party affairs. “Our party and the Government are doing just fine under EPS”, said Hari, echoing the views expressed some time back by other party seniors, including Minister D. Jayakumar, that the Sasikala family should be kept out of the party.
Slamming Hari for his words and the CM for his silence, Vetrivel said, “We have been very clear from the beginning that ‘Chinnamma’ is the party general secretary, ‘Annan’ TTV is the deputy general secretary and EPS is the organising secretary. Anyone knowing the party’s constitution cannot challenge this, yet someone or the other pops up every other day making adverse statements and the CM is keeping mum”.
Not just that; Vetrivel insisted that the party's support for BJP's Presidential candidate was cleared by 'Chinnamma' and that too upon a request from none other than the Prime Minister, conveyed by party MP and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, M. Thambidurai. "Let the CM deny this", challenged Vetrivel, the influential Perambur MLA, suggesting that EPS 'hijacked' the credit for the party's decision in the Presidential poll by blacking out Chinnamma's role.
The post-Jaya disorder in the AIADMK, demonstrated every now and then in the flood of media proclamations by the party functionaries of various denominations in different camps, appears to have hit a new high - or perhaps deep low -- on Monday as apart from the Vetri-Hari clash, there was another bloodbath in the exchanges between Dairy Minister K. T. Rajendra Balaji and ex-minister Vaigai Chelvan.
While the former is in the EPS camp - he was a staunch TTV loyalist until a month back - the latter is firmly entrenched in the 'Chinnamma' group. At the peak of exchanges, Balaji called Vaigai Chelvan "a Rs 500 platform speaker". Hitting back, the ex-minister said Balaji had clawed his way up from being a poster-sticker.
