OPS, EPS factions of AIADMK merge, Panneerselvam takes oath as Tamil Nadu Deputy CM

Pic courtesy: IANS

Chennai: Over six months after a bitter split, rival AIADMK factions on Monday merged following a power sharing arrangement under which K Palaniswami remained the Chief Minister and O Panneerselvam was made his deputy.

Panneerselvam will also be the AIADMK coordinator while Palaniswami will be the co-coordinator of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu.

Panneerselvam was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan. He has been allocated the portfolios of Finance, Housing, Rural Housing, Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board, Town Planning, Urban Development, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and Accommodation Control.

Former Minister K Pandiarajan was also sworn in as Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture.

Soon after being sworn in, Panneerselvam went to the state secretariat and assumed duties, as per IANS.

Palaniswami arrived first at the party office today. Panneerselvam came a bit later, his first visit after almost seven months. Both were given a rousing reception by party cadres who swarmed the party headquarters and lined up along the road leading to the premises.

Paneerselvam was welcomed by Walajabad B Ganesan, a senior functionary of Amma camp which was led by Palaniswami, with a shawl. The rebel leader had earlier visited the office before his revolt against Sasikala on February seven.

Prior to Panneerselvam's arrival, his loyalists including P Munusamy, Rajya Sabha MP V Maithreyan, senior leader C Ponnaiyan, and former MP, PH Manoj Pandian converged at the office, as per PTI.

The factional feud began in February after Panneerselvam revolted against Sasikala. The former chief minister had said that he was forced to resign from his post and asserted that only a person desired by people and cadres should succeed him in the government and party.

Panneerselvam was immediately sacked from the top party post of treasurer, marking the birth of the rebel AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) faction.

Subsequently, Sasikala named Palaniswami as Legislature Party Leader as she herself had to go to Bengaluru to serve a prison sentence following her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

Soon, Palaniswami took over as chief minister and his government was ridiculed as a proxy of Sasikala by rebel Panneerselvam and opposition parties led by the DMK.

In April this year, in a political twist, Tamil Nadu Cabinet gave indications of sidelining Sasikala and Dhinakaran.

Palaniswami gradually emerged as leader of a faction of about 122 MLAs in the 234 member Assembly.

The OPS camp had nine MLAs, including himself.

Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues took a stand against Dhinakaran in April for the first time after bypoll to RK Nagar bypoll constituency, represented by late Jayalalithaa, was cancelled.

They were also on the same page after Dhinarakan was named in a case of trying to bribe Election Commission officials during April

Further hardening the stand against Dhinakaran, an August 10 meeting chaired by Palaniswami said his appointment went against party bye-laws,setting the stage for a formal merger.

Following it up, the government also announced an inquiry into Jayalalithaa's death and declared that Amma's Poes Garden residence would be taken over and turned into a memorial.

By conceding these key demands of the Panneerselvam camp, the process of unification got a fresh impetus and following several rounds of deliberations, the merger came through.

(With Agency inputs)