Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar on Tuesday said the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has decided to sideline VK Sasikala and her family to facilitate a merger of all the factions. He said that the decision was unanimous. Jayakumar added that a committee will be set up to initiate the process, and that the AIADMK will also have a committee to monitor its day-to-day functioning, PTI reported.

Earlier in the day, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said Sasikala’s family had brought “ill name” to the state and demanded that they be removed from important posts in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam if his faction was to merge with the parent party. His demand came after the Delhi Police filed a First Information Report against party Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran for offering to bribe the Election Commission to get hold of the party’s frozen “two leaves” symbol. Dinakaran is Sasikala’s nephew.

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Officials in the AIADMK said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy is keen on completing the merger before the EC’s next hearing on the dispute over the party’s “two leaves” symbol. With this development, the number of MLAs supporting Panneerselvam is 122, according to The News Minute.

A senior leader in the Panneerselvam camp told Scroll.in that Dinakaran was willing to step down from his post if an assurance was given that his aunt, Sasikala, who is currently lodged in a Bengaluru jail, is allowed to continue as general secretary. Dinakaran also wants an assurance that he will continue as a member of the party and preferably find a place in the AIADMK’s high-level committee as well.

Panneerselvam had broken off from the AIADMK after Sasikala was made general secretary soon after J Jayalalithaa had died. The two factions have been at odds for more than two months now.