AIADMK Factions Patch Up, C Ve Shanmugham May Go to TVK
Now both the groups had withdrawn the complaints through a letter to the Speaker, he said, averring that there was no split in the party but only differences of opinion.
Chennai: Rival factions in the AIADMK patched up on Wednesday and withdrew the complaints they had given to the Assembly Speaker against the other with former Minister C Ve Shanmugham, a top leader of the rebel group, remaining the odd man out by keeping away from the reconciliation process, indicating his possible switch over to the TVK after resigning his MLA seat and getting a ministerial berth.
Speaker J C D Prabhakar told the media that he was looking into the memoranda given by the leaders of both the groups and would take a decision on Thursday and said that the groups that had earlier filed separate complaints had now given letters withdrawing them.
Leader of the rebel group S P Velumani explained to the media that his group had taken some decisions in favour of the ruling party after the elections, prompting party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to seek the disqualification of 25 of the MLAs for violating the whip and his group to file a similar counter complaint.
Now both the groups had withdrawn the complaints through a letter to the Speaker, he said, averring that there was no split in the party but only differences of opinion. The general secretary had agreed to look into the views expressed by them with a view to protecting the party for another century like formation of a committee and the convening of the General Council, he said.
Velumani, accompanied by his acolyte former Minister C Vijayabhaskar, called on Palaniswami at his residence and they all worked out the truce. Both groups decided to work together and mentioned that in their letter to the Speaker.
The rebel group, which had announced its own whip before the rift and subsequently voted in favour of the TVK government, agreed to accept the leadership of Palaniswami and abide by diktats of the whip, Agri Krishnamurthy, appointed by Palaniswami. Velumani said that they had voted in favour of the TVK government not to get any positions.
The latest stand of Shanmugham, who was a firebrand leader in the rebel group, had given rise to the suspicion that be might be the fifth member of the AIADMK to switch over to the TVK on the lines of Maragatham Kumaravel representing Madurantakam, P Sathyabama from Dharapuram, S Jayakumar from Perundurai and Esakki Subaiya from Ambasamudram.
The four MLAs who had resigned hope to be re-nominated from their respective constituencies and win the by-elections for the seats that would be called for soon. Shanmugham, too, might take the same route and might get a ministerial berth too in the C Joseph Vijay government.