CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who has been grappling with internal dissent since the party slipped to third place in the Assembly elections, is now facing a fresh issue after a party functionary urged him to reinduct AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran into the AIADMK to strengthen the party in the Cauvery delta.
The request was made at a meeting chaired by Palaniswami to review the party's electoral defeat and chalk out its future course of action. The issue is likely to spark debate within the party in the coming days.
Responding calmly, Palaniswami told Padma Kumaresan, councillor of the Kumbakonam Municipal Corporation, that Dhinakaran was heading a separate political party, signalling that the request was not possible. In an unusual move, Kumaresan later disclosed to reporters that he had raised the issue during the meeting.
Speaking to TNIE, Kumaresan said he had voiced the sentiments of his colleagues in Kumbakonam and that those who attended the meeting with him congratulated him afterwards for making a bold suggestion. Kumaresan said he also urged Palaniswami to give greater importance to youth in the party structure, a suggestion that the AIADMK leader accepted. He added that Palaniswami asked cadre not to worry about those leaving the party, stressing that the cadre base remained intact, and urged them to focus on the forthcoming elections.
The demand to reinduct Dhinakaran can also be viewed from another perspective, as several senior leaders who later quit the AIADMK had consistently argued that all those who had drifted away should be brought back to strengthen the party organisation.
Reacting to the development, a senior AIADMK functionary told TNIE that bringing Dhinakaran back would be against the party's interests. Following the demise of party supremo J Jayalalithaa, there was widespread public resentment in Tamil Nadu against the V K Sasikala family, and the AIADMK had kept the family away from party affairs in deference to public sentiment. "Palaniswami's soft response to the proposal raises many doubts. People will not accept Dhinakaran's readmission into the party," the functionary said, criticising Palaniswami's handling of the issue.
However, responding to reports on the matter, AIADMK MP M Dhanapal sought to downplay Kumaresan's request. He said the proposal would not become an issue as Dhinakaran was already part of the AIADMK-led alliance. Besides, Dhinakaran himself would be unlikely to favour such a move as he heads a separate political party.
On June 11, responding to suggestions on social media that the AMMK should merge with the AIADMK and that Dhinakaran should play a key role in its affairs, the AMMK founder said the party had functioned independently for many years and would continue as an AIADMK ally. He added that neither the party's functionaries nor its cadre had expressed any desire to merge with the AIADMK.
Timeline:
April 18, 2017: AIADMK announces the 'keeping away' of TTV Dhinakaran and his family (including VK Sasikala) from the affairs of the party and government and terms it as the wish of 1.5 crore AIADMK cadres
September 12, 2017: AIADMK general council expels VK Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran from the party
March 15, 2018: Dhinakaran launches AMMK in Madurai
January 21, 2026: AMMK, led by Dhinakaran, returns to the NDA led by AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
June 11, 2026: Dhinakaran said his party functionaries didn't convey a wish to merge with the AIADMK
July 6, 2026: AIADMK functionary from Kumbakonam tells Edappadi K Palaniswami to reinduct Dhinakaran into the AIADMK