Tiruchy: Tension prevailed for a while at Tiruchy airport on Sunday, when a man trying to approach former Chief Minister, Mr. O. Pannerselvam, was caught carrying a knife by CISF personnel deployed at the airport. The leader of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) had landed here en route to Virudhunagar when the incident happened.
The man, identified as Solairajan (48), a load-rickshaw puller, created a flutter at the airport when he along with media personnel and scores of party men, attempted to go near Mr Pannerselvam.
However, alert CISF personnel, while regulating the crowd, stopped him from gaining proximity to OPS and in the jostling a small knife in the folds of his ‘dhoti’ fell on the ground. The CISF personnel recovered the knife and detained the man and later handed him over to the airport police.
Preliminary enquiries by police revealed that Solairajan from Vilvanagar here, is a long-standing party man, and functionary of the local ‘MGR Mandram’. He also told the police that he was an ardent follower of OPS, and that he only wanted to take a picture with his leader. It was to display his picture with OPS on flexi boards planned to be put up in connection with his (Solairajan’s) daughter’s wedding fixed for August 27. Further investigations are on, police added.
Taking a few questions from the media, Mr. Pannerselvam said that it was a ‘pure coincidence’ that the State Health minister, C. Vijayabhaskar, who owes allegiance to Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami, and Senthil Balaji, another former minister close to TTV Dhinakaran, happened to travel with him on the same flight to Tiruchy from Chennai this morning. But “we never talked to each other,” said OPS.
On the new set of office-bearers announced by the party's deputy general secretary Dhinakaran, he shot back: ‘better you ask Mr. Dhinakaran’.
Mr. Pannerselvam, who utilised the media interaction to convey his greetings to senior BJP leader, Shri. M Venkaiah Naidu, on being elected Vice President of India, said he was proceeding to Virudhunagar for a party meeting later in the day.
Asked about the chances for merger of the two factions of the AIADMK, he said it depended on 'fulfillment of their demands’ pressed as part of their 'Dharma Yuddham’. Until then, the 'war of Dharma' will continue, he reiterated, before leaving by car for Virudhunagar.
A key demand set by the OPS faction for the merger is that the EPS faction should de-link the party organization from the 'clutches' of the Sasikala family, it may be recalled.
