JOIN USThe merger talks between the two AIADMK warring factions in Tamil Nadu are expected to be delayed further as rebel leader and former chief minister O Panneerselvam on Monday decided to tour the state to know the opinion of the cadres on re-uniting with the group led by Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Sources from Panneerselvam camp told DH that the former chief minister is likely to start his tour from Kancheepuram district on May 5.
“Our leader will tour the state to seek the cadres’ views on the merger talks,” a senior leader from the Panneerselvam camp said.
Though the rebel group openly welcomed the removal of portraits and cutouts of V K Sasikala, the jailed former party general secretary, from the party headquarters recently, which was one of its demands for merger talks, Panneerselvam’s tour plan surprised several leaders in the Edappadi group.
Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani, who is in the Edappadi team, said that a solution can be found only if the leaders of the two factions sit and talk.
“Each and every cadre in the AIADMK wants the merger of both factions,” he told
reporters at the Coimbatore airport.
“The case related to the party’s ‘Two Leaves’ election symbol will be withdrawn once the merger between the groups takes place,” Velumani said.
Echoing similar views, Assembly deputy speaker Pollachi Jayaraman said both the AIADMK groups will merge very soon. “It is just a matter of time,” he added.
DH News Service