The AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Thursday said he would adopt a “wait and watch” approach towards events happening within the AIADMK.
In his interaction with reporters here, Mr. Dhinakaran, who was the AIADMK’s deputy general secretary before he floated the AMMK in March 2018, was reacting to the Theni district unit of the principal Opposition party passing a resolution on Wednesday, demanding the readmission of former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala and Mr. Dhinakaran to the party.
The Theni development might have been an outcome of “introspection” by the AIADMK’s office-bearers there. Successive electoral reverses might have also contributed to it. As far as he was concerned, he had “no personal animosity” towards members of the AIADMK, who were all “my former friends.” Before Ms. Sasikala left for Bengaluru in February 2017 to serve her jail sentence, she made him deputy general secretary “with the consent” of all in the party. “In fact, when [AIADMK coordinator] O. Panneerselvam had revolted [against Ms. Sasikala], they were all with us. They all stood by me at the time of the campaign for the R.K. Nagar by-election [originally planned to be held in April 2017 but actually held eight months later]. Subsequently, they decided to keep me out of the party. I was pushed to the corner,” Mr. Dhinakaran recalled, claiming that 19 AIADMK MLAs of his camp, on their own in August 2017, met then Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and conveyed to him the withdrawal of their support to the government headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami.
As for the issue of rapprochement with the AIADMK, Mr Dhinakaran clarified that he would not take any decision unilaterally. “I would go by the sentiments of my followers,” the former MP pointed out, adding that he did not commit any mistake.
Slogans raised
Earlier, in the morning, secretary of the AIADMK’s South Chennai (North-East) district unit, Adhi Rajaram, visited the party headquarters with his supporters, who had raised slogans in support of Mr. Palaniswami.
Dismissing the resolution of the Theni district office-bearers and describing it as a “ploy of some opportunists,” Mr. Rajaram expressed the confidence that Mr. Panneerselvam would not approve of the move. He also emphasised that whenever the party had faced electoral setbacks, it was normal that such an event took place. After the AIADMK’s drubbing in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, leaders such as Nanjil K. Manoharan and Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan had left the party. Likewise, after the party was ousted from power in 1996, it had experienced the departure of some leaders.
The AIADMK functionary added that the setback in the local bodies’ elections need not be viewed very seriously when the DMK, which had lost deposit in the R.K. Nagar by-election, had been able to capture power again.
