AIADMK merger: OPS announces 7-member committee to hold talks with Edappadi group

Chennai: The starting blocks for the merger negotiation between the two warring factions of the AIADMK are drawing closer with former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Friday announcing his seven-member committee to hold talks with the Edappadi group. The latter had already formed a seven-member negotiation team under Lok Sabha member R. Vaithilingam.

This development is seen as a move forward, albeit snail-paced, as the OPS group has been cold so far as responding to the EPS camp forming its talk team goes. Nevertheless, the signs and sounds pointing to persisting grey spots were in full flow during the day.

Making his announcement before a large gathering of journalists outside his residence in the evening, OPS said the two teams would begin talks soon. “It would not be proper to speak of pre-conditions when we are preparing for the talks”, he replied when reminded about his earlier stand that there was no scope for negotiations until the EPS camp fulfilled his three conditions —announce the expulsion of party general secretary Sasikala and deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran citing anti-party activities and warn party members against having anything to do with the duo; state government to request the Centre to institute CBI probe into the treatment and death of Jayalalithaa; and, withdrawal of affidavit filed by EPS group with the Election Commission claiming the two-leaves symbol.
    
Earlier in the day, OPS spokesman and former minister Mafoi Pandiarajan, emerging from a long meeting with the leader, told reporters there was no change in their stand that negotiations can begin only after the three conditions are met. Obviously the camp scaled down a bit and made its next substantial move by constituting the negotiation team under its cannon commander K. P. Munusamy.

The former minister had been spitting fire and brimstone during the last couple of days but was calm and composed when he came before the TV cameras in the morning and revealed the decision to constitute its negotiation team.

There was some hardening in the EPS camp with minister Kadambur Raju insisting that TTV Dhinakaran remained the party deputy general secretary. He had voluntarily stepped aside to facilitate merger talks and did not quit the party and the post, Raju argued. If that statement went against OPS' three-point charter of demands, the former CM did not seem upset, at least for now, as he went ahead forming his seven-member negotiation team.

Sources said that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been keen on getting the two warring AIADMK factions merge so that the party's Two Leaves symbol got restored and the government improved its chances of surviving for the remaining four years of its term.

Though some state BJP leaders denied their party was involved in the patch-up work, the saffron pressures were pretty clear to everyone out on the hot turf.