After weeks of hectic parleys, the two warring factions of the ruling AIADMK—led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his predecessor O.Panneerselvam—finally merged on Monday. The merger came after Panneerselvam was made deputy chief minister and party coordinator.
The two factions were united six months after they split following the death of former chief minister and party supremo J.Jayalalithaa. Panneerselvam, who was twice chief minister when Jayalalithaa was jailed and again after she died in December, will also get back his Finance portfolio. Three other MLAs from his camp were also sworn in as ministers at a function held in Raj Bhavan later in the day.
Earlier, making the official announcement of merger at the party headquarters in Chennai, Palaniswami said the two factions decided to unite despite a lot of differences. He said the party will now retrieve its two-leaves symbol.
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According the merger deal, a 11-member panel led by Panneerselvam and senior leader V. Maitreyan will coordinate the party. Palaniswami will be the joint coordinator.
"The burden in my heart is gone," Panneerselvam said adding "none can separate us, we are children of Amma, we are brothers."
He said the merger was not only the desire of Tamil Nadu people, but also of the of 1.5 crore AIADMK cadres.
Rajya Sabha MP Vaithialingam said jailed party chief V.K. Sasikala will be removed from her post. Her expulsion was a major demand of the Panneerselvam camp for the merger. A general council of the party would be convened soon, Vaithialingam said.
Former minister and party veteran C. Ponnaiyan also expressed confidence that the AIADMK government would run its full course of five years and no MLA would take part in any attempt at toppling it. He said the appointment of Sasikala as General Secretary in the wake of Jayalalithaa's death in December was illegal at the first instance.
Earlier on Friday, the chief minister had announced a judicial probe into the death of Jayalalithaa and decided to convert her residence at Poes Garden into a memorial—the other two demands raised by the OPS group as a precondition for the merger.
The merger of the two factions came after weeks of hectic parleys, overcoming the acrimony and last minute tough bargaining by the Panneerselvam group which insisted on an announcement about Sasikala's removal. She is now in a Bengaluru jail for corruption.
In a resolution on August 10, the chief minister's camp had already delegitimised deputy general secretary and Sasikala's nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran setting the stage for a merger.
Meanwhile, the faction headed by T.T.V. Dinakaran, Sasikala's nephew, has warned against his own and Sasikala's sacking as Deputy General Secretary and General Secretary of the AIADMK. Dinakaran is said to enjoy the support of a dozen MLAs.
