Reporter's diary: Why the distance?

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court’s verdict that the AIADMK General Council meeting on July 11, in which former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was elected as the interim General Secretary of the party, is null and void is no doubt a setback to him, but the question is what happened to EPS’s proximity to BJP top brass and Raj Bhavan.

The leader of the opposition has been missing in action particularly when it comes to meeting the saffron leaders.

EPS was recently absent in the tea party hosted by Governor RN Ravi on Independence Day.

EPS’s request with the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, insisting not to treat O P Ravindranath as AIADMK MP, was also put on hold.

Plus, he had not met any of the BJP leaders in the recent past, particularly at a time when properties of his acquaintances were raided by central agencies.

Though EPS had earlier enjoyed a good rapport with the BJP leaders, Governor office and the union ministry, the proverbial distance he’s maintaining is raising eyebrows among his supporters.

However, his rival and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was one of the first to be present at the tea party along with his trusted lieutenants, Vaithyalingam and Manoj Pandian.

Even there, OPS was confident that the court verdict would be favourable to him.

The series of events including EPS skipping the tea party and OPS being the first person to attend the event seem to be the topic among the AIADMK sympathisers and scribes.