Will decide on alliance after civic polls dates are out: O Panneerselvam

Chennai: A day after he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the national capital, the office of former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Saturday said a decision on electoral alliance will be taken after the dates for civic polls in Tamil Nadu are announced.

Mr Panneerselvam, heading the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, who earlier in the day said a decision on poll pact with the BJP will be made after the local bodies election dates are announced, clarified that his faction would decide on alliance with “any political party” after the dates of the local body polls are announced.

The tweet on his official twitter handle: (@officeOfOPS “We will take a decision on alliance with BJP once local body elections are announced,” was removed later in the day and another tweet: “We mean that only after the announcement of Local body elections we will think about the Alliance with any political party,” was pos-ted.

The earlier tweet triggered speculations that an electoral pact was signed between Mr Panneersel-vam and Mr Modi on Friday. Following this, clearing the air on the announcement, @officeOfOPS came out with another post which said: “we mean that only after the announcement of Local body elections we will think about the Alliance with any political party.”

During his 30-minute meeting with the PM. Mr. Panneerselvam had discussed State issues including pending funds from the Centre. He also raised issues on exempting the State from National Eligibility and Entrance Test (Neet) and setting up of a Cauvery management board.

His meeting assumed significance as it came against the backdrop of ‘superstar’ Rajinikanth hinting about his political plunge and appealing to his fans to be ready for ‘war’ at the right time as he slammed corruption in the state.