For the third continuous day, the three warring factions of the AIADMK started trading corruption charges against each other, making it apparent that a merger was unlikely.
While O. Panneerselvam announced his plans to launch a protest against the ruling government under Edappadi K. Palanisamy, T.T.V. Dhinakaran stole the show. Dhinakaran, who had earlier given an open call to the party functionaries to come to party office on August 5, indicated that he was about to make a strong comeback. Announcing his tour schedule starting from August 14 to October 5, commemorating MGR centenary, Dhinakaran sent out strong signals to the party men, with his new list of officebearers for the party.
“AIADMK is a big movement. There are many party functionaries. In a bid to strengthen the party, we have inducted more members to ensure that the AIADMK wins the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. I will go any day to the party office. It is like my house, my temple and our property,” T.T.V. Dhinakaran told the media waiting outside his swanky residence at Karpagam gardens in Chennai. Dhinakaran’s announcement of a 50-day tour schedule covering nine districts, and the list of 64 office-bearers was the outcome of a day-long meeting he held with his supporters. Party seniors and former ministers like Senthil Balaji, Palaniappan and MLA Vetrivel were among several others in a closed meeting with Dhinakaran.
Dhinakaran, who is smartest of the lot in the Mannargudi family with political experience, will, sources say, play the cards close to his chest in the coming days. Apparently, Edappadi Palanisamy’s silence these three days after Dhinakaran’s open call, say political observers, will prove costly for him the coming days. “It is a clever move by Dhinakaran. EPS should have spoken earlier. Indecisiveness can be costly,” says political analyst Sumant C. Raman.
On the other hand, rebel leader O. Panneerselvam, who had been demanding the outser of T.T.V. Dhinakaran and others from the Mannargudi family from the party, traded corruption charges on the Edappadi government. Panneerselvam has announced a protest on August 10. Accusing the government of corruption, Rajya Sabha member V. Maitreyan said, “there is no question of merger. We are the real AIADMK. Supporting Palanisamy government is an injustice meted out to the people of Tamil Nadu.”
Meanwhile, yet another major development was the Election Commission of India’s RTI reply. Replying to queries, the commission said that the AIADMK did not have a general secretary and that "because there are inner party issues, the names of party functionaries are not available and so it cannot be revealed.” The information was sought by members of the OPS faction through RTI with the ECI. “Please check in the ECI website about AIADMK. The name against general secretary is blank. This means there is no leader as of now for our party. We are hearing that the ECI will soon declare Sasikala’s appointment as null and void,” a member of the OPS faction told THE WEEK on condition of anonymity. In such a case, if her appointment is declared null and void, Dhinakaran’s appointment too will be invalid, as the office-bearers will be the persons who were holding office when Jayalalithaa was around.
This means the stalemate will continue. But it is not that easy for T.T.V. Dhinakaran to capture the party and go ahead. He was one of the politicians detained under COFEPOSA in February 1996. In this case on April 27, 2006, the Supreme Court had upheld his detention under COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act). In such a situation, it is pertinent under the The Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1976 to forfeit his properties. In short, it is called as the SAFEMA act. But even a decade after the Supreme Court upholding his arrest, his properties have not been confiscated. “We will have to wait and watch as to how this legal issue turns, keeping in mind the IT raids at Karnataka Congress minister D.K. Shivakumar residence and also the CBI raids at Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbadhra Singh’s residence,” says senior journalist R. Ramasubramanian. Sources say, more than ED and the IT and the pending bribery case in which the chargesheet is yet to be filed by the Delhi crime branch, the pending FERA case and the SAFEMA might be used to put Dhinakaran in his place.
While Dhinakaran has emerged powerful and Panneerselvam, playing to the boundary, it seems Chief Minister Palanisamy will have to tighten the noose to keep the flock together. Already, former minister S.P. Shanmuganathan, who is part of the OPS camp, has alleged that he was offered Rs 5 crore by both the TTV faction and EPS faction to defect to either of their teams. Also, the fifth round of IT enquiry for health minister Dr C. Vijayabhaskar, who is now part of the EPS camp and the freezing of his assets, also indicate the brewing confusions within the ruling camp. Vijayabhaskar, who was once close to T.T.V. Dhinakaran, has chosen to remain silent, merely responding to the queries raised by the Income Tax department after the raids at his residence.
However, Dhiankaran’s emergence and assertive nature has put both Panneerselvam and Palanisamy in a predicament.
