The cyclone prevailing in the sea of Tamil Nadu politics is now moving towards shore indicating an end to the problems finally. The dispute between the ruling AIADMK after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha has finally come to an end with both the EPS and OPS section merging to be one on Monday
Today chanting the slogan of ‘one mother, one party and one family’, both the factions merged together. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and the current Chief Minister E. Palaniswamy were also present to witness the occasion. The two leaders announced the decision Monday afternoon from the party office in Chennai. Following the merger, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam swore in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at 4;30 pm. Panierselvam will be the convenor of AIADMK, while Palani Swami will play the role of co-coordinator of the party.
The merger was announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswamy and there was a gathering of supporters of both groups in the party office and both leaders were addressing the supporters. After the merger, E Palaniswami thanked Panneerselvam and said the party is now committed to fulfil the dreams of former CM J Jaylalitha known as ‘Amma’ and MG Ramachandran one of the founding members of the party.
Actor Kamal Hassan mockingly criticising the merger tweeted that “Tamil Nadu has seen Gandhi’s cap, has seen saffron cap, has seen Kashmiri cap and is now looking for a fool’s hat. Enjoy, Tamilnadu.”
Earlier on Saturday, the veteran leader of the O Panneerselvam faction and former minister KP Munuswamy had finally rejected the allegations which were being said that they were stopping both the factions to stay together. He had said that for the benefit of the party and that of the state, it is very necessary to remove Sasikala from the party. He further added that the removal of Sasikala from the party is the beginning of crusade launched by Panneerselvam. He also told that he along with all the members of the faction will always support all the decisions taken by O Panneerselvam.
A confrontation between the two factions was seen before the merger. O Panneerselvam had demanded that till the time Sasikala is not expelled from the party OPS faction will not enter the party office. Chief Minister E Palaniswamy had spoken about giving a thought of removing Sasikala from the party. Saraswati from the Sasikala faction reminded O Panneerselvam that it was because of Sashikala only that h became the CM.
Following the merger now the path is paved for AIADMK to became a partner with NDA also after forming an alliance with BJP. The main opposition party of Tamil Nadu, DMK is already in alliance with Congress, therefore in this situation, to mark its presence in national politics AIADMK will surely join hands with BJP.
All the eyes were on Tamil Nadu since BJP announced Venkaiah Naidu as its Vice-presidential candidate. Few were calling this step taken by the BJP-led government as mission south and few said it was a master stroke played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP has been trying hard from a long time to establish its presence in the south and even succeeded to some extent when it won the last Lok Sabha polls in Kanyakumari. This was the first time that BJP won a seat in Tamil Nadu. In such a situation, the uproar in Tamil Nadu politics proved to be a golden opportunity for the BJP and the candidacy of Venkaiah Naidu was like icing on the cake. Finally, BJP succeeded in merging the two factions.
The BJP was endeavouring to bring both the factions of AIDMK for a long time. That is why he had directed the senior leaders of the party in Tamil Nadu and had entrusted the responsibility of this work to the party general secretary Muralidhar Rao. The alliance with AIADMK will prove to be a beneficial deal for the BJP from all sides. As the party has long been eager to register its strong presence in Tamil Nadu politics for a long time. The prevailing situation will be reasonable for BJP as so far, a non-Dravidian background-based party has not been successful in establishing its position in Tamil Nadu politics.
The other major advantage for BJP will be that it will get the support of the biggest party in the south. AIADMK has a total of 50 MPs and it is India’s third largest party in this regard. At present, the BJP and the Congress are two such groups which are more than the AIADMK in the House in the numbers. The alliance between AIADMK and BJP will further strengthen till now weak looking BJP in the house. Also with AIADMK becoming a partner with NDA will further weaken the already weak opposition.
Alliance with AIADMK is a beneficial deal for the BJP and it will make its way to 2019 General elections easier.