Two leaves to reunite soon? AIADMK factions to hold merger talks by Friday
Chennai: The merger talks between AIADMK (Amma) and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma or PTA) will take place by Friday, R Vaithilingam of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami camp said on Wednesday.
“Tomorrow or day after tomorrow talks between two factions will take place,” Vaithilingam, who is heading the AIADMK (Amma) panel set up for merger talks, told ANI on Wednesday.
The development comes hours after the O Panneerselvam camp, the AIADMK (PTA), welcomed the removal of AIADMK (Amma) general secretary Sasikala Natarajan’s banners from the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.
Around 8 am on Wednesday, party workers tore down the life-size banners of Sasikala from the AIADMK office. They also reinstalled the posters of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Removal of Sasikala’s portraits from the AIADMK offices was one of the demands of Panneerselvam or OPS camp for starting the talks to reunite the two factions of the party. The other demand was the expulsion of Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran from the party, and a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death.
On the demand for expulsion of Sasikala and her family members from the party, it has said related proceedings are pending before the Election Commission challenging her appointment as general secretary.
On the demand for CBI probe, the Palaniswami faction has maintained that since a case has already been filed in court for a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to Jayalalithaa's death, the Panneerselvam camp should wait for the verdict.
The Panneerselvam camp has moved the EC challenging the appointment of Sasikala, contending it was done in violation of the party bylaws.
After the revolt, Dhinakaran had said he was "stepping aside" but cannot resign as AIADMK deputy general secretary without the approval of Sasikala, who is serving jail term in a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was the main accused. Neither of them has been expelled by the Palaniswami faction yet.
The talks for the merger of the two factions of the AIADMK began after Dhinakaran was accused of corruption. He was on Tuesday arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with allegations that he tried to bribe an Election Commission official to secure the AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol which has been frozen.
A Delhi court on Wednesday sent him to five-day police custody for further investigation into the allegations.
