Chennai , April 4( BPNS)
The AIADMK faction owing allegiance to party Chief coordinator and former Chief Minister, O.Panneerselvam (OPS)is conducting meetings across South Tamil Nadu to fan up support for the reentry ofV.K.Sasikala former interim general secretary who was expelled from the party.
Sasikala is in political wilderness ever since she was back from the Bengaluru central prison in 2021. The powerful Thevar community of South Tamil Nadu to which both Sasikala and Panneerselvam belong is pulling the strings for the reentry of Sasikala into the party fold.
While OPS is not directly participating in the meetings, his supporters are conducting meetings across South Tamil Nadu.
The meetings to garner ground support for Sasikala were, according to party sources, held on March 30, 31, and April 1 and 2 at Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Virudhunagar, Theni, Dindigul and Madurai districts of Tamil Nadu.
Dr. R. Padmanaban, Director, Socio-Economic Development Foundation and political analysts while speaking to IANS said, “ The Thevar community is a powerful social entity in South Tamil Nadu and the results of the successive elections have proved that AIADMK had lost heavily in its bastions of South Tamil Nadu as the powerful Thevar community wanted to teach the party a lesson. “
Sasikala has always been supportive of all the needs of the Thevar community even in her heydays as a powerful aide of late Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa.
It is to be seen in the coming days how the other faction of the AIADMK led by former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami respond to these meetings which were held secretly. The Edappadi Palaniswami faction is now powerful in AIADMK and with the necessary support from Thevar community and South Tamil Nadu , OPs can bounce back.
With Sasikala knocking on the doors of AIADMK, it has to be seen how the politics of the party is shaping up in the days to come.
