Bid To Sideline EPS Within AIADMK Still On
Rebel AIADMK leaders are reportedly considering forming an “AIADMK II” group in the Assembly and supporting TVK, amid continued differences with Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Though the top honchos of the rebel group, particularly S P Velumani, C Ve Shanmugham, Natham Vishwanathan and K P Anbalagan, have been functioning on their own without interacting with the leaders and MLAs of their own or abiding by the common decisions all through the Assembly session, their meeting at the residence of Shanmugham at Palavakkam on Wednesday after the conclusion of the Assembly Budget debate has led to the wagging of tongues.
While the original plan of the top leaders of the rebel group was to quit the AIADMK and join the ruling party and then get ministerial berths, they have changed their plans after two of their compatriots, C Vijayabhaskar and M R Vijayabhaskar who threw up their MLA posts won on AIADMK tickets are yet to be rehabilitated by the TVK.
Caught in a cleft stick, the group that does not want to work either under the leadership of Palaniswami or is able to leave the AIADMK at the risk of losing their MLA post now wants to function as an independent group with the tag ‘AIADMK II.’
With the discussion at Palavakkam revolving around such a move – the leaders feel that once they form the group and obtain the permission of the Speaker to function in that fashion many other MLAs will join them as many of them were reportedly disillusioned with Palaniswami – the rebels now want to not break the AIADMK but function as a rival and support TVK in the Assembly.
The group leaders claim that the large scale migration of leaders and cadre from the AIADMK to TVK in the recent weeks and months was only due to their dissatisfaction with the style of functioning of Palaniswami who is vehemently opposed to the idea of bringing past leaders like V K Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran into the party.
Rebels are also not happy with Palaniswami’s crackdown on dissidents in the party and claim that 400 persons had been expelled in recent times.
The demands from the rebels include the calling for an executive committee meeting of the AIADMK and taking a decision on convening the general council, which would take the key decisions on restricting and revamping the party, sources said.
