CHENNAI: AIADMK leaders Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam along with their supporters separately paid homage to former chief minister MG Ramachandran on the occasion of his death anniversary at his memorial on the Marina. Palaniswami and his supporters also took a pledge to bring back AIADMK rule in Tamil Nadu and to win all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 2024.
Later, ousted AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran also paid their tributes to the departed leader. Responding to Sasikala’s remark that she had already begun works to reunite rival AIADMK camps, former minister D Jayakumar said, “She has nothing to do with our party. She can maybe try to unite TTV Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam. The AIADMK party led by Palaniswami is doing well.”
“Sasikala’s claim that Amma (former chief minister J Jayalalithaa) turned down the option to receive treatment abroad is a blatant lie. Why didn’t she reveal this to the Arumughaswamy Commission? On November 25, 2016, doctors proposed the idea of performing a cardiac angiogram for Amma, and she consented to that. This is recorded in the commission’s report. Why was it not done on that day? Had it been performed, Amma would have been alive and won the 2021 Assembly elections too. The AIADMK demands action against those responsible for Amma’s death as per the commission’s recommendations,” Jayakumar added.
Meanwhile, staunch Panneerselvam supporter JCD Prabhakar administered a pledge to the cadre supporting their camp. Without naming Palaniswami, they vowed to defeat his attempts to take over the AIADMK and to defeat his ‘designs’ to divide the party. Asked about the legal notice sent by Palaniswami charging that Panneerselvam misused the party name, flag and seal, the latter said, “It was a dummy notice. We will face it.”