Hectic parleys on for merger of two warring AIADMK factions in Tamil Nadu

18 August, Chennai

Hectic parleys are underway in Chennai for the merger of two of the warring AIADMK factions in Tamil Nadu.

Ex-chief minister O Panneerselvam is holding a marathon meeting with his AIADMK PTA party senior functionaries at his residence since this evening.

In a separate meeting, the AIADMK Amma party senior functionaries led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy are closeted in a meeting at his residence.

The police have strengthened security around the memorial of late leader J Jayalalithaa at Marina Beach where a formal announcement about the merger is expected to be made tonight.

Later, the two leaders are expected to visit the party headquarters in Lloyd’s Road. To both the Jayalalithaa memorial and the party headquarters, there have been steady stream of party cadres flowing since this evening.

It is widely believed that, in ‘behind the curtain’ negotiations that went on for quite some time, a formula on sharing cabinet portfolios and party positions by both the factional leaders have been almost arrived at.

The merger moves gained momentum after another AIADMK factional leader TTV Dhinakaran entered into active politics following his self-imposed hibernation for two months since his release from the Delhi Tihar prison.

Meanwhile, union minister and prominent state BJP leader Pon.Radhakrishnan has assured the Centre’s strong support to the possible government of the merged entity in the state.