AIADMK MP's post suggests all's not well within unified factions

Unified All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP V Maitreyan on Tuesday hinted at discontent among leaders of the erstwhile factions led by Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam which merged over three months ago.

'It has been three months now since the merger of EPS-OPS faction. Months are passing by, what about hearts?' Maitreyan, who is a member of Rajya Sabha, said in his Facebook post.

Queried about his remarks, Maitreyan, who was in the OPS faction, said he had already expressed his views and did not wish to say anything more.

Senior party leaders K P Munuswamy and Manoj Pandian refused to comment on Maitreyan's remarks.

However, when asked if all the promises made prior to the merger were met, Munuswamy said, "Differences inside any party are a routine affair and they will be resolved internally according to the convenience of stakeholders."

On various occasions, the leaders of the two faction have maintained that they no longer have differences.

Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam after meeting Prime Minister Modi in October had told reporters that he had no differences with Chief Minister Palaniswami and all the decisions were taken inclusively.

Following party supremo Jayalalithaa's death in December last year, two factions led by Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala were formed.

Later, a large group of legislators led by Chief Minister Palaniswami revolted against Sasikala, who is in jail in a graft case, and announced merger of the two factions.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, left, greets deputy CM O Panneerselvam, right, in the presence of Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, centre, at Raj Bhavan in Chennai after the merger of the two AIADMK factions. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo