Palaniswami faction goes into huddle

Chennai: The AIADMK Amma faction today went into a huddle under Chief Minister K Palaniswami, a day after the O Panneerselvam camp set formal removal of party General Secretary V K Sasikala and her deputy TTV Dinakaran as conditions for merger talks.

Palaniswami was joined by his cabinet colleagues D Jayakumar, C Ve Shanmugham, S P Velumani, Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam among others at party headquarters. Hardening its stance for merger talks, the Panneerselvam camp had yesterday demanded that the faction led by Palaniswami formally expel Sasikala and Dinakaran besides about 30 other members of their family from the party.

Following the cabinet’s revolt against him early this week, Dinakaran had said he was “stepping aside” in the interest of the party. A top leader in the Panneerselvam camp, KP Munusamy, had yesterday said the first demand was getting the resignation of Sasikala and Dinakaran and later their formal expulsion along with 30 other members of their family.

The Panneerselvam camp has also sought a CBI probe into the circumstances leading to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s death on December 5 last year.