The AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam made it known on Monday that the only factor which blocks the merger of the two warring groups is VK Sasikala, the jailed general secretary of the party.
“All we need is the ouster of the Sasikala family (popularly known as Mannargudi clan) from the AIADMK. let the Edappadi Palaniswamy faction declare officially that all members of the Sasikala family including her has been ousted from the party,” KP Munusamy, prominent leader of the OPS faction said at Chennai on Monday.
Briefing reporters after a meeting of the faction, Munusamy said the Edappadi Palaniswamy Government should order a CBI probe into the hospitalisation and demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. He pointed out that Panneerselvam had ordered a probe into the demise of Jayalalithaa during his brief tenure as Chief Minister during December 2016 to February 2017.
“let this Government call for a CBI inquiry into the hospitalisation and death of Jayalalithaa. These are the only two demands we are putting forward and we do not have any other demands,” said Munusamy. He also alleged that someone, somewhere, is trying to sabotage the unity moves by the two factions.
But R Vaithilingam, the Rajya Sabha member belonging to the EPS camp, pointed out that a PIl demanding CBI probe into the death of Jayalalithaa was under the consideration of the Madras High Court.
“If the court orders a CBI probe, the Government would abide by the order,” said Vaithilingam, who heads the panel formed by the EPS faction for merger talks with the OPS group.
Referring to the demand of the OPS faction for the ouster of Sasikala, Dinakaran and other members of the Mannargudi family from the party, Vaithilingam said the Election Commission of India was looking into the legality of the appointment of Sasikala as the general secretary of the party.
No leaders of the EPS faction have come forward to justify Sasikala or Dinakaran after last Tuesday’s announcement that they would keep both of them away from party leadership. The words Chinna-
mma (read Sasikala) and Annan (Dinakaran) are conspicuous by their absence in the political discourse in the State which means that the Mannargudi family’s luck is running out itself.
Interestingly, leaders of minor parties which are the alliance partners of the AIADMK are pitching strongly for unity moves. “The AIADMK is the undisputed number one party in Tamil Nadu because of the good policy initiatives launched by Jayalalithaa. The present leadership should understand the party’s strength and take immediate steps for merger. A split at this juncture is disastrous for both the factions,” said G K Nagaraj, presidemt, Kongunadu Jananayaga Katchi, an outfit with considerable clout in south west Tamil Nadu.