MADURAI: Denying the claims of differences of opinion with Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy, Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam on Monday stated that they both were taking decisions only after consulting with each other.Speaking to media persons at Madurai airport, Pannerselvam said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a gesture of good will, insisted that AIADMK should not split and had asked his faction to join the parent party.
Taking a dig at DMK, the deputy chief minister said that the DMK had no locus standi to comment on the Cauvery issue and that it was the late chief minister J Jayalaithaa who upheld the rights of Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery river issue by including it in the gazette.
He also stated that initially he refused to take up the chief minister post soon after the demise of Jayalalithaa and was forced to take the CM’s chair by TTV Dhinakaran. “It was due to the pressure exerted by TTV Dhinakaran that I was forced to resign from the CM post later,” he said. Commenting on the political entry of actor Kamal Haasan, Paneerselvam said that it was not the appropriate time to talk about any alliance with the actor’s party.