CHENNAI: Amidst high political drama on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said that he had met TTV Dhinakaran to save the party and not for any personal gain.
Earlier in the day, Dhinakaran said Panneerselvam met him in July last year and he was desperate to become CM again. Paneerselvam dismissed his allegations during a crowded press meet at his Greenways Road residence, flanked by AIADMK presidium chairman E Madhusudanan, Ministers RB Udhayakumar, Kadambur Raju and K Pandiarajan.
“I met TTV Dhinakaran on July 12 last year not out of my own interest but only on the repeated requests from Dhinakaran through a common friend. My intention was to save the AIADMK and the government which faced trouble then. But I returned with disappointment as Dhinakaran did not show any reformation but was keen on becoming Chief Minister.”
“When Dhinakaran was parading 36 MLAs and challenged that he would topple the government, I thought the party and government should be saved. But during the meeting, it was clear that Dhinakaran stood his ground and spoke with an intention of becoming CM after removing Edappadi K Palaniswami.” he said.
Panneerselvam also said that when he refused to meet Dhinakaran, saying he was leading a ‘dharma yudh’ against that family (Sasikala family), the common friend, who arranged the meeting, assured that Dhinakaran had given up his old stand and was about to quit politics. “The friend asked me to take a decision after listening to Dhinakaran. Only after that, I met Dhinakaran. But after the merger of both factions in August, there has been no contact with Dhinakaran,” he added.
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The friend, who had arranged the meeting, met Panneerselvam on Friday morning and regretted that he had made a big mistake by arranging the meeting. “I never expected that Dhinakaran would engage in such cheap politics. I met him with good intention - to save the party and government. But now understood what kind of person he is,” Panneerselvam added.
The Deputy CM also charged that Dhinakaran was levelling false allegations only to malign his image and to create confusion among the public besides to embarrass the party and government.
Responding to a question, Panneerselvam shot back: “Why should I topple this government where I am the Deputy CM? I held the CM post three times and that is enough. I hail from a good family and I will never try to become CM by toppling a government.”
Answering another question, he said, “Ministers have told me that seven of the disqualified MLAs had approached the ruling party, saying they did not like the attitude of Dhinakaran.”
Earlier in the day, AIADMK deputy coordinators KP Munusamy and R Vaithilingam had expressed hope that Panneerselvam would not have met Dhinakaran and that the latter was trying to create confusion among party cadre.
Minister for Electricity P Thangamani said “Indeed, Dhinakaran had sent feelers to the AIADMK to merge his party. Since there was no green signal for that, now he is making false allegations.”