advertisement
Six months after breaking up following the death of then Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa, the two factions of the AIADMK – led by O Panneerselvam and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami – reunited on 21 August.
Panneerselvam, who had held the post of Chief Minister twice when Jayalalithaa was jailed and again after she died in December 2016, was made Deputy Chief Minister in Palaniswami’s Cabinet.
However, the task is not yet over for the AIADMK, with 18 MLAs still showing solidarity with the Sasikala camp.
The Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, Dhanya Rajendran, believes 17 MLAs is a good number to bring the government down.
Although the BJP has maintained that they have nothing to do with the merger, Rajendran pointed out that in the last few months, EPS and OPS have met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at least six times.
Senior journalist TS Sudhir, too, agreed that the BJP played a big role in the merger, although it wasn’t out of altruism but vote share in the upcoming elections.
A unified AIADMK will ensure the vote share of around 35 percent does not get split, Sudhir said, which will accrue in the combined NDA account if there is an alliance, which would give the BJP candidates a good chance to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
RK Radhakrishnan, professor, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, and Associate Editor of Frontline magazine, said that even with the merger, they will also need to win the majority in the Legislative Assembly.
(#TalkingStalking: Have you ever been stalked? Share your experience with The Quint and inspire others to shatter the silence surrounding stalking. Send your stories to editor@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: undefined