Palaniswami invites AIADMK's rebel MLAs to 'come for talks' as TVK remains non-committal over their support

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday extended an olive branch to the rebel leaders by asking them to “come for talks” if they believed that there were problems within the party, even as he launched a frontal attack on the ruling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).

The invitation by Palaniswami comes amid a signature campaign by the rebels demanding convening of the General Council, the party’s highest decision making body, to discuss the successive electoral defeats. To counter their move, Palaniswami has convened a meeting of district secretaries, including the fresh appointees in place of the MLAs who were removed from party positions, on Tuesday, in a show of strength.

Interestingly, Palaniswami has convened the meeting at his Greenways Road residence instead of the party headquarters. The rebels have so far not made any headway in their rebellion against Palaniswami due to the TVK continuing to remaining non-committal on their support for Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s government – they want to join the Cabinet.

On the eve of the district secretaries meeting, Palaniswami said problems are natural in any political party and expressed his willingness to engage in talking to the rebels. “Let us solve our problems through discussion. The TVK government which is dependent on support from five parties will not last long,” he said, in a veiled message to his colleagues not to trust the ruling party.

He also said he will continue to follow the principles of party founder M G Ramachandran and late supremo J Jayalalithaa in “forgiving” partymen who regret for their mistakes. “Our party will overcome every crisis and bounce back soon,” he added.

Palaniswami also accused the ruling TVK government of surviving on alliance support and alleged that it had attempted to engineer defections within the AIADMK through inducements and 'horse-trading'.

He also dismissed as “speculation” talks between DMK and AIADMK to form a government to keep away TVK.