Sasikala to be taken back into AIADMK? Panneerselvam, Palaniswami to decide soon

Recently, the Theni district committee of the party had passed a resolution stating that Sasikala be reinducted into the AIADMK.

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Chennai: AIADMK Chief Coordinator O Panneerselvam and Coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami will be meeting soon to sort out the issue of the re-entry of former interim general secretary of the party VK Sasikala into the party.

On Wednesday, the Theni district committee of the party had passed a resolution stating that both Sasikala and her nephew and Chairman of AMMK, T.T.V. Dhinakaran be reinducted into the AIADMK. The meeting, which was held at the farmhouse of Panneerselvam, was presided by the party Theni district secretary, Syed Khan.

OPS has, according to sources in the party, told the meeting that if they bring out a resolution, he would take it to the party high command.

The Palaniswami camp has been vociferous in their opposition to the re-entry of Sasikala into the party fold and several leaders who are close to the former Chief Minister, including D.Jayakumar and CVe Shanmugham, had lashed out against the former aide of late Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa.

A group of leaders reportedly close to EPS had, on Thursday, met OPS and held a detailed discussion with the latter at his Theni farmhouse and expressed the anxiety of EPS on the resolution passed by the district committee of the party in which Panneerselvam was also present.

A senior leader of the party privy to the meeting while speaking to IANS said: "OPS has conveyed to Palaniswamy that he had no role in the resolution and it was adopted following the intense pressure from the cadres. He had also told EPS that he had conveyed to the party district committee that he would take the resolution to the party highcommand and then only any decision could be taken."

The leader also said that both the senior leaders spoke to each other over the telephone for more than 30 minutes and decided to soon meet in Chennai to sort out the issue.

It may be recalled that the AIADMK received a major drubbing in the recent Urban local body elections and even in South Tamil Nadu which is generally considered a point of strength for the party, it lost heavily losing even the homeward of OPS in Theni district. The AMMK of Sasikala`s nephew had eaten into the vote bank of AIADMK leading to a major defeat in South Tamil Nadu.

Another factor that pushes up Sasikala`s case of re-entry to the party fold is the pressure from the powerful Thevar community that can decide the outcome of the elections in several constituencies in South Tamil Nadu. Incidentally, both OPS and Sasikala are from the Thevar community.