With the swearing-in of O Panneerselvam (OPS) as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday, a the saga of a bitter split in the AIADMK has come to an end. Besides, it has paved the way for the ouster of VK Sasikala and her clan from the united AIADMK. Governor C Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to OPS and K Pandiarajan in a function held at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Monday evening.
OPS has been given the crucial portfolios of Finance, Housing, Rural Housing and Housing Development, Urban Planning and Chennai Metropolitan Development, while Pandiarajan has been made the Minister for Tamil Culture. Though it was expected that the factions may merge on Friday, nothing came off on that day because of the delay in working out the modalities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated both OPS and Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS). “I hope Tamil Nadu scales newer heights of progress in the years to come. The Centre assures all possible support to CM EPS and Dy CM OPS for the growth of TN,” tweeted Modi.
Earlier, OPS and other prominent figures of the rebel faction (AIADMK-PTA) drove down to the party headquarters at Royapettah where they were accorded a warm reception by the leaders of the AIADMK (Amma) faction. EPS declared that both the factions would merge and work as single entity to perpetuate the memories of party founder MG Ramachandran and former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
“While Panneerselvam would be the Deputy Chief Minister, he has been appointed as the convener of the AIADMK. I’ll be the co-convener,” announced EPS amid thunderous applause.
He said former Minister KP Munusamy, one of the first senior leaders who cast his lot with Panneerselvam, and R Vaithialingam has been made the deputy coordinators of the11-member steering committee to be headed by Panneerselvam.
“We will work together keeping in mind the wishes of the party cadre. Our top priority is to retrieve the Two leaves symbol of the party,” said Palaniswami while welcoming the Panneerselvam-led faction to the party. Though there were no references about jailed general secretary VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran, there was an announcement by D Jayakumar, Minister for Finance, that the general council would be convened soon to ease her out of the party.
After the announcement about their merger at the party headquarters, EPS and OPS accompanied by their entourage drove down to the Jayalalithaa Memorial at the Marina Beach and offered floral tributes to the late leader. It was from the Jayalalithaa Memorial they left for Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony.
Though the party headquarters and the Raj Bhavan wore festive looks, there were heartburns in the Panneerselvam faction. S Semmalali, the longest serving AIADMK MlA, who was tipped to be a Minister, was conspicuous by his absence at the Raj Bhavan. “I was not invited and hence I did not go there. I am disappointed and sad that I was not made a Minister. But I wish the AIADMK Government all the best,” Semmalai told The Pioneer.
It may be remembered that Semmalai, who was with the Sasikala camp till all MlAs were herded to the beach resort at Koovathur in the run-up to the swearing-in of Palaniswami as Chief Minister in February, came out of the faction and extended his support to Panneerselvam. Semmalai’s disappointment is an indication that all is not well in the episode which culminated on Monday.
The Sasikala faction, under the leadership of TTV Dinakaran also expressed their disappointment for keeping them away from the swearing-in ceremony as well as the unification function. “We are happy but we are equally sad that we were kept out of the whole process,” said CR Saraswathi, spokesman of the AIADMK (Amma) faction. But there were 18 MlAs staying put with the Dinakaran camp which has put a question mark on the stability of the Government.
If 18 MlAs stay with Dinakaran camp, the EPS faction would be left with 115 MlAs in a House which has an effective strength of 234. The Opposition DMK camp has 98 MlAs. If the DMK camp manages to get the support of the 18 MlAs in the Dinakaran camp, then stage is set for another episode of uncertainty and Tamil Nadu would be in a state of flux again.