CHENNAI: Indicating that the merger efforts have collapsed, former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Friday said Tamil Nadu would witness an early election to the Assembly, even before the local body polls.
He asserted that people were rallying behind his ‘dharma-yutham’ to oust the AIADMK general secretary V. K. Sasikala and her kin from the ruling party.
Launching his state-wide tour from Kottivakkam in Kanchipuram district, Panneerselvam said his month-long campaign was aimed at educating the public about his dharma-yutham (battle for justice). He was confident the exercise would yield robust support from the electorate and his party would win majority in the Assembly.
He said his demand for CBI probe into Jayalalithaa’s death would be the central theme in his campaign-tour. “We could see people strongly support this demand”, he said.
Apart from addressing public meetings during his tour, Panneerselvam would also meet the functionaries and cadre of his AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) faction to discuss long-term strategy to strengthen the party, as well as the plans for meeting the local body elections. He will be also holding district-level meetings of party activists to give a new shape to his party, sources said.
Interestingly, Panneerselvam is now repeating the prediction already made by DMK working president M. K. Stalin that the post-Jaya political turmoil would surely bring early Assembly elections.
Former ministers K.P. Munusamy, E. Madhusudhanan, MP Maitreyan and other party seniors accompanied Panneerselvam at the launch of his campaign tour.
