Uncertainty stares at the Edappady K Pazhanisw-amy led AIADMK Governm-ent as it entered its second year in office on Tuesday. Political grapevine is that a revolt is brewing up in the AIADMK (Amma) faction headed by VK Sasikala.
Eight MlAs belonging to this faction called on Chief Minister Palaniswami at the secretariat on Monday. Though the MlAs were silent about what transpired in the meeting, sources in the faction said the MlAs, which included three former Ministers made it known to the Chief Minister that they were not happy with the state of affairs either in the Government or the party.
Palaniswami claims that he has the support of 122 MlAs. If the eight MlAs who called on him on Monday choose to revolt, the Chief Minister is certain to lose the majority support as the benchmark for his continuation in office is 118. Amidst reports of the growing uncertainty in the faction, . Palaniswami flew down to New Delhi for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Palaniswami was already upset over the meeting the Prime Minister had with O Panneer-
selvam , former Chief Minister, last week.
Veteran scribes in Chennai pointed out that former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi ruled Tamil Nadu for a full term between 2006 and 2011 though the DMK had just 96 MlAs on its side. “There was never any political instability or uncertainty during the tenure of Karunanidhi though Jayalali-
thaa used to taunt it as a minority Government,” said a scribe following the Tamil Nadu Governments for the four decades.
With the demise of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016, the AIADMK lost not only its lone charismatic leader but whatever sheen associated with the party as well as the Government.
“Since Jayalalithaa was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in September 2016 till date the Tamil Nadu Government is in a state of limbo. The Governm-
ent and the party are yet to recover from the unexpected death of Jayalalithaa,” said the scribe. Though Jayalalithaa returned to power in the 2016 Assembly election, the Government-led by her could not launch any new initiatives unlike her previous term (2011-2016) which saw the then Chief Minister announcing unique initiatives on a regular basis. The only two major programmes attended by Jayalalithaa were the inauguration of the two phases of Chennai Metro Rail ltd.
The inordinate delay in convening the Assembly for taking up demand of grants by various departments is being portrayed by the Opposition as Palaniswami’s lack of confidence.
“The Chief Minister is not sure whether his Gover-
nment would be able to face the House. What we understand is that there is a lack of trust between the Chief Minister and the MlAs. That is the only reason why the House is not being convened which is a violation of the Constitutional requirement," said MK Stalin, leader of the Opposition.
The only silver lining in the AIADMK’s first year in office was the way former Chief Minister Panneerselvam handled the Occupy Marina agitation demanding the resumption of Jallikkattu in January 2017 and the oil spillage resulting from the collision of two ships off Chennai Port.
As on date, the main discourse in Tamil Nadu is about the hijacking of the AIADMK by the Mannargudi clan of party general secretary VK Sasikala. The AIADMK Government is yet to make any announcement about its plans for the centenary celebrations of party founder MG Ramachandran. In the fight for the control of the party, the leaders and cadre forgot MGR and his birth centenary which falls in 2017.