E K Palaniswami camp holds meet with party district secretaries

Chennai: The AIADMK faction, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswami, today held a consultative meeting of key party functionaries here, amidst expectations of the rival factions of the ruling party holding merger talks.

Palaniswami chaired the meeting of a group of party district secretaries, who play a key role in its organisational structure.

The meeting, the first after the April 17 revolt by the Palaniswami camp against party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, was held at the AIADMK headquarters here.

It was also attended by senior leaders, including Education Minister KA Sengottayan, party sources said.

The chief minister was likely to hold similar consultations with the other district secretaries in the coming days, they added.

The meeting assumes significance in view of the formation of committees by the factions led by Palaniswami and former chief minister O Panneerselvam for talks on merger of the two camps.

Although the merger move seemed to have hit a roadblock yesterday with both the factions blaming each other for the delay, Panneerselvam today said a "good ambience" was evolving for talks.