Chennai: Former chief minister O Panneerselvam on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to “express feelings and aspirations of the AIADMK cadre and views of the people”, in the first open acknowledgment that the BJP was brokering peace between the two warring factions.
After waiting for nearly three days, Panneerselvam met Modi at his official residence at around 11 am along with party seniors with sources maintaining that the merger of the EPS and OPS factions was the prime agenda of the nearly 30-minute discussion between the two leaders.
“The atmosphere prevailing in the state under the present regime, the feeling of AIADMK cadres and the opinion of the public have been conveyed to the Prime Minister”, the former chief minister said.
This is the first time that the AIADMK is admitting in public that they have been discussing their internal affairs with the Prime Minister.
Panneerselvam’s meeting with the Prime Minister came close on the heels of his camp insisting that he should not be relegated to deputy chief minister’s post and that he should be made general secretary of the AIADMK.
However, it looks like that Modi was successful in convincing the former Chief Minister for a merger with the Palaniswami camp.
“A decision that would fulfil aspirations of the cadre and that would make them happy would be taken,” Panneerselvam said, giving ample indications that the merger is likely to place very soon.
Sources said the two camps moved forward in the merger talks after a personal push from the Prime Minister, who was interested in infusing stability into the AIADMK government, which has been facing uncertainty ever since J. Jayalalithaa died in December last year.
Under the “formula”, Palaniswami would continue to be the Chief Minister and Panneerselvam will take over as his deputy in the government. In the AIADMK, Panneerselvam will head the steering committee that would run the party while Palaniswami would be the deputy chairman.
