Merger talks still mired in war of words

On Monday, the AIADMK (PTA) faction leader and Mettur MLA S Semmalai reportedly said that the merger would be possible only if O Panneerselvam was made the chief minister.

However, the original demands of the OPS camp were the removal of jailed party general secretary VK Sasikala and her family members from the primary membership of the AIADMK and an inquiry conducted into the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. 

As the AIADMK (Amma) group, refusing to budge on both the demands, kept inviting the OPS faction for talks, there was no headway in the merger attempts. The seven-member talks committees formed by both the groups remained only on paper. 

In this backdrop, when asked for the reason for party leaders issuing varying statements due to which there was no progress on the merger talks, OPS group strategist and MP Dr V Maitreyan said, “This is not the case. Semmalai will not talk like that. His real intention may have been misconstrued. He will never talk in a way that will affect the merger possibilities of both factions.” 

When enquired if there was any change in the stand of the OPS camp, Maitreyan said, “Our stand remains unchanged. Our two conditions – removal of Sasikala’s family and inquiry into Jayalalithaa’s death – continue to be the same and there has been no headway as the EPS faction has been unable to meet these two demands.” 

Meanwhile, AIADMK(A) faction’s star speaker Nanjil Sampath continued his tirade against OPS in his meetings at various places seeking support for jailed deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran. “OPS is trying to destabilise the government by siding with the BJP. He might as well join the BJP. EPS has the support of 123 MLAs and so, we do not need the support of OPS faction at all,” Sampath affirmed.