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 the AIADMK leader accepted.
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,” the functionary said, criticising Palaniswami’s handling of the issues that arose after Assembly polls.
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 AIADMK, 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.