AIADMK merger on Monday: Sources

Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami may have mentor J. Jayalalithaa’s memorial decked up with flowers once again on Monday morning for a formal merger with AIADMK’s rival faction led by O. Panneerselvam, his predecessor at Fort St. George.

The merger was to happen late Friday and the chief minister got his staff to decorate Amma’s memorial at Marina beach with flowers, but the expectant smiles of enthusiastic AIADMK loyalists faded into the night.

“The merger will certainly happen Monday morning, at around 10.30. You can be sure of that,” said a senior member of the ruling AIADMK (Amma).

A source in the rival Puratchi Thalaivi Amma camp of OPS said that as per the merger package being worked out, “as of now” Mr Palaniswami will continue to be the chief minister and Mr Panneerselvam has agreed to be the deputy CM.

It took a lot of effort from the pro-merger section in his group, besides the “push” given by “well-meaning friends in Delhi”, to get OPS to agree to give up his strong reservation about being Mr Palaniswami’s deputy after being chief minister three times.

“OPS is a very mature politician; besides, he is keen that the present AIADMK government must complete its term (till 2021) at any cost. He has agreed to drop his personal hesitation for the sake of the party and also for the stability of the government”, said a senior journalist, who has been toiling over the last few weeks to get his “two very good friends” to come together to form a united AIADMK.

The harrowing Friday night behind him, he sounded a lot more confident. “We can be sure that the two leaders (OPS, EPS) will put all their bitterness aside and move ahead with positive measures to seal the unification rather than allow the wounds to fester and permit trouble-makers to play mischief,” he said.

Insiders say that former minister R. Vaithilingam, MP will assist Mr Palaniswami, while former minister K.P. Munusami will be with Mr Panneerselvam when they come together to agree to the format and composition of the Steering Committee that’ll run the AIADMK and act as a bridge between the party and the government.

“OPS will be the chairman of this Steering Committee, while the CM will be its vice-chairman,” said a source.