CHENNAI: Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday strongly backed the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led government, saying it is marching on the path showed by the party’s erstwhile supremo J Jayalalithaa.
Speaking at an event at Kancheepuram and later in his Twitter posts, he appealed for unity among the party cadre. He was apparently addressing the issue of synergy between his and Palaniswami’s loyalists in recent days.
The deputy CM also tweeted that the party was able to retrieve its Two Leaves symbol only because it stood united as per Jayalalithaa’s vision. “We will win the RK Nagar poll with the same unity,” he said. Speculation about the synergy deficit went viral after Panneerselvam did not attend an event chaired by Palaniswami on Saturday in Madurai to celebrate the retrieval of the party symbol by their faction.
BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan tried to exploit the confusion, saying, “They got the Two Leaves symbol, but it appears that each of the leaves would wither away.” Panneerselvam supporters also toned down their rhetoric on social media and removed posts criticising Palaniswami.