Kavundampalayam MLA withdraws support to O Panneerselvam

“Though I got police permission for the event, I was not invited for kickstarting the arrangements for the grand event that began on Friday. So I am forced to withdraw support to the OPS faction,” he said.

Party sources hinted that he might reunite with the AIADMK (Amma) faction at the MGR birth centenary celebrations to be held at Tirupur on Saturday. While Arukutty kept praising Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, he said that he would be taking a decision on reuniting with the Amma faction in a day or two. However, he added, “I and party cadre along with voters wish both the factions unite.” 

The first sitting MLA, who extended support to O Panneerselvam in February, said he was upset over being constantly sidelined by the former chief minister. “How long can I tolerate this? I have been sidelined from the time I thanked the Chief Minister and others during the budget session. It was my duty to thank them, but it was not taken by the PTA faction in the right spirit,” he lamented.

Losing an MLA is a major setback for the PTA faction that has only 11 MLAs on its side. 

Shortly after Arukutty’s announcement, two other MLAs of the OPS camp from the district, PRG Arun Kumar (Coimbatore North) and OK Chinnaraj (Mettupalayam) strongly denied his allegations against the faction. 

Addressing reporters at a combined press meet, they said that none of the allegations was true. They said that Arukutty is trying to give lame excuses. “You should ask him why he withdrew support or what he is planning to do next,” Arun Kumar queried.

About not being invited for the ground breaking ceremony for the birth centenary celebrations of MGR here on Friday, he said they were working on it as a team and that all of them had discussed when the works would commence. 

“But, days ahead of the scheduled event (on Friday) he told us that he would not be coming,” he said and added that Arukutty’s allegations have come as a shock to them.

Meanwhile, sources in the Amma faction said that they are trying to hold talks with the Kavundampalayam MLA for a homecoming. They said that they would be more than happy if Arukutty returned to their faction.

Perundurai MLA and an ardent supporter of party deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran, ND Venkatachalam, resigned from the House Committee protesting lack of development schemes for his constituency in Erode district. Tendering his resignation on Thursday, the MLA said that though the Chief Minister visited the district twice, nothing came out of it. “No Minister is interested in its development,” he added. 

Venkatachalam was former environment minister, a post now held by KC Karuppannan from the same district. KA Sengottaiyan, School Education Minister and Gobichettypalayam MLA, also belongs to the district. It may be recalled that at the height of the party faction feud some months ago, he had convened a group of like-minded MLAs and met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami twice. It was then said that he had discussed the development of the district with the Chief Minister. It was in this backdrop that he resigned from the House committee, which is constituted every financial year to advise and consider matters relating to the comfort and convenience of the Assembly members.