Panneerselvam dials Dhinakaran in bid to contain Palaniswami in AIADMK

It is an all-out war in the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. The tussle for the AIADMK leadership has attained different proportions now though it is an open secret that there is no love lost between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.

While Palaniswami is concentrating on strengthening his hold within the government and people amidst speculation that he wants to snap the ties with the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, his deputy Panneerselvam has reached out to rebel leader T T V Dhinakaran, who is the nephew of V K Sasikala, for a patch-up.

Panneerselvam, the “loyal soldier” who was handpicked by J Jayalalithaa to stand for her twice when she had to quit from Chief Minister’s post due to court cases, has touched base with Dhinakaran, more than once in the past couple of months, in an apparent bid to stop Palaniswami’s further ascension in the AIADMK.

Highly-placed sources told Deccan Herald that Panneerselvam has reached out to Dhinakaran, who runs the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) after being expelled from the AIADMK, through a third person. “OPS feels sidelined in the AIADMK under Palaniswami and wants a rapprochement with the Dhinakaran camp,” a source in the know-how of the developments said.

Panneerselvam’s efforts to patch-up with Sasikala family should be viewed from the prism of the BJP making the first step towards exploring the merger of AMMK with AIADMK. Dhinakaran, who flew to New Delhi on September 20 by a chartered flight, is believed to have met an influential BJP leader considered close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and initiated the talks from Sasikala’s side, the sources said.

Though the BJP is said to be keen on the merger of the AMMK and AIADMK, there will be opposition to the move, especially from EPS’ side as the Chief Minister seems to be of the opinion that he should be allowed to continue till the remainder of his term without any trouble. Speculation has been mounting in the state for the past few weeks that Palaniswami wants the AIADMK to contest alone in the assembly polls.

Panneerselvam, the 69-year-old politician from the dominant Thevar community establishing communication with Dhinakaran, in effect Sasikala, is significant as it was, OPS who rebelled against the now-jailed leader in February 2017 leading to a split in the party. Sasikala also belongs to the community, which has always stood by the AIADMK.

OPS, the no.2 in AIADMK when Jayalalithaa headed the AIADMK, had made sacking of Dhinakaran from the party as a pre-condition for merging his faction with the parent party in 2017, but the realization that he has been side-lined in the party by Palaniswami has apparently led him to patch-up with the Sasikala family.

The recent developments indicate a drastic change of equations within the AIADMK. EPS was elected as the leader of the AIADMK legislature party by Sasikala before she left for Bengaluru to surrender before the Parapana Agrahara prison authorities. However, Palaniswami patched up with Panneerselvam and the duo sacked Sasikala as “interim general secretary” and removed Dhinakaran from the post of deputy general secretary.

If the rapprochement between OPS and Sasikala camp materializes, it will be back to the square for one for Panneerselvam as he got an AIADMK ticket to contest the 2001 assembly elections apparently on the recommendation of Dhinakaran.