Room for reconciliation within the AIADMK

With the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) not accommodating the rebel camp of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the government, there is room for rapprochement between the dissidents and the group led by the general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. A senior leader of the rebels, who include former Ministers C.Ve. Shanmugam, S.P. Velumani and G. Hari, says that efforts are on “from the beginning” to bring the two camps together. “Some mediators are going on between us. Even today, this has happened,” the leader observes. When the TVK regime went for a trust motion last week, the rebels’ camp, numbering 25 legislators, supported the government and 22 other legislators of the AIADMK, led by Mr Palaniswami, voted against the regime. The two groups, in addition to claiming themselves to be the legitimate legislature party, have given petitions to Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar for initiating disqualification proceedings against each other. However, the rebel camp remains firm in its demand for an early meeting of the general council, he points out, amid reports in sections of the media that the signatures of 1,400 have been collected. “Apart from analysing reasons for the electoral setbacks, we want changes to be made in the decision making process within the organisation. For all these purposes, the general council should discuss the issues,” the leader elaborates. On the issue of not having been taken into the government, the leader says that his group has never made any statement publicly about joining the TVK regime. It is learnt that no representative of the group was present at the day’s swearing in ceremony. “No invitation was sent to us,” the rebel leader complains. On the patch up efforts, the State secretary of the Agricultural wing in the party and Tiruvannamalai (south) district secretary, ‘Agri’ S.S. Krishnamurthy told The Hindu on Thursday evening, “Our general secretary has issued an open statement [wherein the rebel leaders were invited for discussion], which is self-explanatory. It is for them to respond.”