The two factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam moved closer to reuniting on Tuesday night, after they decided to keep jailed leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran away from party affairs, Finance Minister D Jayakumar said. The breakthrough decision, which follows months of political turmoil in Tamil Nadu was taken late Tuesday night at a meeting held at Chief Minister EK Palaniswami’s house, The Indian Express reported.
Jayakumar said, “It was a unanimous decision, based on the views of the CM, ministers, MLAs, functionaries and the public. More than 1.5 crore AIADMK cadres wish that the family of Dinakaran should be kept out.” The decision is believed to have been supported by most members of Sasikala’s faction, and Jayakumar said they were now ready for merger talks.
Dinakaran had called for a meeting of the MLAs and District Secretaries at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai at 3 pm on Wednesday. However, later in the day, he told the media “I have stepped aside. I have no regrets over this decision. All I want is for the party to be united.”
The leader of the other faction, O Panneerselvam, has not made an official announcement on this yet, but had earlier in the day said that the Sasikala family’s ouster was their main demand in case a merger was to take place. 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.
Meanwhile, reports said that the Delhi Police has issued a lookout against Dinakaran following inputs they received that he might try to leave the country.
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