TTV Dhinakaran back in Chennai, welcomes idea of AIADMK merger

Chennai: AIADMK Amma Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran has "welcomed" the idea of a merger between the two factions of the party according to Tamil Nadu ministers who met him on Tuesday.

One faction, AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, is being led by O Panneerselvam and the other, AIADMK (Amma), is led by VK Sasikala.

Ministers K Sengottiyan and Srinivasan met Dhinakaran, who returned to Chennai after reportedly meeting party chief VK Sasikala in Bengaluru jail.

Meanwhile, Sengottaiyan claimed that Panneerselvam has not asked for the resignations of Sasikala and Dhinakaran, according to a report in NDTV.

“There are no talks on the issue of TTV Dhinakaran and Sasikala, nor did OPS faction raise any question on the same,” ANI quoted Sengottaiyan as saying.

Speaking on the merger on the two factions on Tuesday, Panneerselvam said the AIADMK (Amma) has formed a committee to conduct talks on the matter.

NDTV had reported that Chief Minister E Palanisamy would be leading a 10-member team to meet Panneerselvam and hold talks.

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar on Monday hinted at the possibility of a merger between the two groups.

Jayakumar said all 122 AIADMK lawmakers and party cadres were on the same page and discussed about the possibilities of retaining the 'Two Leaves' symbol, which had been frozen by the Election Commission.

The development came on a day when the Delhi Police booked AIADMK (Amma) leader Dhinakaran for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a failed bid to obtain the coveted "two leaves" party symbol for his faction.