CHENNAI: A day after the AIADMK executive meeting ended without naming the party’s CM candidate for 2021 Assembly polls, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam on Tuesday skipped two key Covid-review meetings, both chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and attended by district collectors and the Health Experts Committee, at the Secretariat.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam held meetings with AIADMK’s deputy coordinators, KP Munusamy and R Vaithilingam, and former MP, Manoj Pandian, at his residence. Besides, former IT Minister, M Manikandan, and Revenue and Disaster Management Minister RB Udhayakumar called on Panneerselvam separately at his residence.
Similar meetings took place in the evening also, reminding people about the days when Panneerselvam launched Dharma Yuddham in 2017 against VK Sasikala. However, the AIADMK leaders downplayed the meetings and said party functionaries meeting their leaders cannot be described otherwise.
Answering queries of reporters after holding discussions, Vaithiligam said, “This is not a politically important meeting and that the CM candidate would be announced on October 7.” Asked which leader (Palaniswami or Panneerselvam) he would support, Vaithilingam said, “I support both of them.
My desire is that the AIADMK should come back to power after the elections. On whether the confusion within the AIADMK would lead to the dissolution of the government, Vaithilingam replied in negative and asserted that the AIADMK would retain power. In the evening, after the CM returned home, Minister SP Velumani called on him.