CHENNAI: For months together, AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan kept telling anyone would care to listen that the merger between the factions led by the ruling Edappadi K Palaniswami faction of the AIADMK and the O Panneerselvam faction to which he belonged, was an impossibility. But when the merger finally happened, he had to eat crow and fall in line.
Because of his strident pre-merger stand, it was a given that Palaniswami would not easily accommodate him in the party structure. That frustration seemed to creep up on Tuesday when he said in a Facebook post the the merger had not led to the synchronising the minds yet.
While both EPS and OPS claim in public that there are no differences, the latter’s loyalists feel he is not leveraging his powers to put them in suitable positions within the party.
Maitreyan’s sulk created ripples since the ruling faction is also eagerly awaiting the order of Election Commission of India on the Two Leaves symbol case, for which he had done a lot of spade work.
“Today marks of beginning of the fourth month of merger of two factions...months roll on...but whether the minds of those in the two factions got merged?” wondered Maitreyan in the post. When contacted, he declined to elaborate. “Whatever I wished to convey, I have conveyed in the message. It is up to you to draw conclusions. Don’t want to speak anything more on this,” he added.
Shortly thereafter, social media was abuzz with speculation that he was paving the way for returning to the BJP, from where he began his political career. K P Munusamy, another senior leader and supporter of O Panneerselvam, too had expressed his dissatisfaction. However, when contacted for his reaction on Maitreyan’s remarks, he declined comment. “This is something to be discussed within the party. Can’t discuss it with media,” he claimed.
When reminded that he too had expressed dissatisfaction recently, Munusamy said, “The same situation a month ago need not continue till now. Everything is going on smoothly in the AIADMK.”
Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar too said the AIADMK functionaries were working unitedly.
As for Maitreyan, this is not the first time he has struck a discordant note. A fortnight ago, when Chennai was facing heavy rain, he charged that the top level party functionaries keep the grassroots level cadre and functionaries in the dark about the visit of the CM and other ministers to rain-affected areas. He advised the grassroots level functionaries to go ahead in helping the affected people.
TTV to meet party functionaries from Nov 24
Chennai: As part of his yet another effort to boost the morale of his supporters, TT V Dhinakaran, ousted AIADMK deputy general secretary, is scheduled to meet grassroot level party functionaries across the State from November 24. The meetings will be held zone-wise. He will interact with the functionaries on the following dates : Coimbatore (Nov 24); Vellore (Nov 30), Salem (December 9), Chennai (December 14), Tirunelveli (December 16), Thanjavur (December 17) and Madurai (December 22).
Namadhu MGR says President’s rule in TN from next week, minister calls paper a DMK mouthpiece
Chennai: Namadhu MGR, the mouthpiece of AIADMK, now functioning under the control of V K Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran has said the present government will be dismissed on November 25 or 26 and President’s rule would be imposed in the State. The news item carried by Namadhu MGR recalled how the DMK government was dismissed in 1976.
Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said “After the demise of J Jayalalithaa, Namadhu MGR has become the mouthpiece of DMK and Jaya TV has become Karunanidhi TV.” He recalled an interview of DMK leader Durai Murugan on Jaya TV. “How come Jaya TV telecast the interview of a person who had tried to dishonour our Amma a few decades ago? This proves that the channel has become pro-DMK,” he said.