Chennai: With the major demands of the OPS team of distancing the party from Sasikala family and an inquiry into J Jayalalithaa’s death having been met by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the process of the merger of the two rival factions of the party will further speed up and the focus will now turn on who gets what in the “united AIADMK.”
OPS faction welcomed the announcement of an inquiry by Palaniswami and said it was time for “transparent merger” of the two factions, which had been at loggerheads ever since VK Sasikala staked her claim to be the Chief Minister on February 5, 2017.
Sources said the EPS camp agreed to meet the demands. Dhinakaran, the deputy general secretary appointed by Sasikala, was already virtually removed from the party earlier in the week. Thursday's announcement on the Jaya death inquiry came after the OPS camp had hinted at adopting a "give and take policy" on several issues, including positions in the government and the party
The latest announcement comes within days of Palaniswami and Panneerselvam meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi separately on the merger. A senior member of the OPS team told Deccan Chronicle that all negotiations should be completed in the next one week so that the factions can unite sooner than later.
"The next focus is on the integration of the AIADMK and restructuring the government. There are a few people who had virtually been No.2 and No.3 in the party when J Jayalalithaa was alive and they should be given high responsibilities. Only by restructuring the government and the party, we can get back Amma Government and Amma party," another senior leader said, requesting anonymity.
The OPS camp maintains that 90 per cent of the cadres remains with them and that this "major factor" should be taken into account during the "transparent negotiations." The leader said the EPS camp should first restructure the committee set up to negotiate the merger by reducing its composition to two or three members so that the discussions can take place in a constructive manner.
"We want things to move fast. We can't be discussing with six to seven people and that would only delay the process. We want it to be completed soon since people also feel the merger is long overdue," the leader said.
