The stand-off between the Edappadi Palaniswamy-led Tamil Nadu Government and the 19 rebel MlAs owing allegiance to TTV Dinakaran camp took an interesting turn on Thursday with the Chief Government Whip S Rajendran writing to Speaker P Dhanapal asking for the disqualification of the 19 MlAs.
But the rebel MlAs remained adamant on their demand that Palaniswamy should resign from the post of Chief Minister. Thanga Tamil Chelvan, a close confidante of Dinakaran and prominent face of the rebel camp, told ‘The Pioneer’ that nobody could disqualify them as they have not done anything against the party.
“Our letter to the Governor is very clear in that respect. We have mentioned that we do not have confidence in Palaniswamy and he should be removed from the post of Chief Minister. How can you describe it as an anti-party stanceIJ” asked Tamil Chelvan over telephone from the resort in Puducherry where the MlAs have been put up.
If one is to go by the words of Tamil Chelvan, the Palaniswamy Government is in real trouble. “You have read about only 19 MlAs who are with us. Do you know there are 40 MlAs with us and the number is swelling by the day.
More MlAs would join us in the coming days,” said Tamil Chelvan.
He also said that a change of leadership is imminent in Tamil Nadu. “EPS will go within weeks. It is fixed and there is no way out for him,” he said. But he ruled out the possibility of the AIADMK rebels joining hands with the DMK.
The rebel group has already drawn out a plan of action to oust Palaniswamy. Sasikala’s brother VK Divakaran, hitherto an invisible face in the AIADMK, has come out with a solution. P Dhanapal, Speaker of the Assembly, should be the Chief Minister once Palaniswamy goes, according to a leader in the rebel camp. What makes his name significant is the fact that he was handpicked by late J Jayalalithaa for the job of Speaker during the 2011-2016 term. He was re-nominated by Jayalalithaa herself for the post after the 2016 election. Dhanapal is a leader from the Scheduled Caste which adds value to his candidature.
“The choice of Dhanapal is a clever move as both the Thevars and Gounders, the two communities which are the dominant forces in the AIADMK, would have to fall in line with his selection for obvious reasons,” observed a veteran commentator.
Tamil Chelvan was emphatic that the Dinakaran camp would never be the cause for the dissolution of the House and imposition of the President’s rule. “Those scenarios are out of question. This is an intra-party affair which we ourselves are capable of solving,” he said. He also blamed the BJP for the state of affairs in the AIADMK. “The central leadership of the BJP has been fed wrong information about the AIADMK by their own people in Chennai. This is the reason for the failure of the OPS-EPS merger,” he said.
One more name being considered for the post of Chief Minister is that of KA Sengottiyan, Minister for School Education in the Palaniswamy Government. It is interesting to note that Sengottiyan is maintaining silence over the recent coming together of OPS and EPS.