Stage set for merger of ADMK factions

Six months after former chief minister O Panneerselvam revolted and attempted to split the AIADMK, a merger seems close. At the end of many marathon meetings and tortuous negotiations over the past few months, the factions led by OPS and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami seem to have hammered out the formula for re-unification. An announcement is likely on Monday, sources on both sides said.
The two factions are allegedly under pressure from the BJP to announce the merger before August 22, the day party president Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu. OPS is learnt to have taken the final decision to seal the deal at a meeting with his senior aides late on Friday night. The BJP national leadership has been informed that the merger will be announced on Monday, top leaders from both factions said.
The merger will be announced even though the key demands of the OPS camp — including the removal of Sasikala from the party — remain unmet, sources on both sides said. At least three leaders — K P Munuswamy, P H Pandian and Manoj Pandian — are likely to publicly oppose the merger, if it is announced without the removal of Sasikala.
The OPS camp’s other two major demands are: a CBI probe into J Jayalalithaa’s death, and the post of either chief minister or party general secretary for OPS. He is, however, left with very few options — his camp has only 10 MLAs, and the rival faction controls the state government. One MLA left him two weeks ago to join the ruling faction.
A third faction of the AIADMK, led by Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran, has the support of 20 MLAs — enough to topple the EPS government.
A senior ruling faction leader said a decision on removing Sasikala from the post of general secretary and the party would be taken in a month. “We cannot remove Sasikala immediately even if OPS insists,” he said. The OPS faction is learnt to have been promised that a presidium committee, co-chaired by OPS and EPS, would be formed to control the party’s affairs until the process of Sasikala’s ouster is complete.
OPS has been offered the post of deputy chief minister, and the plum portfolios of PWD and Highways, which get a large share of the state’s budgetary allocation, it is learnt. Sources said the final deal also includes the promise of two more ministerial berths for the OPS camp, besides key posts for at least top 10 leaders in the party or government — such as those of district secretary or influential posts in state boards.