AIADMK factions led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and rebel leader O Panneerselvam came together today after a bitter split about six months ago.

Paneerselvam will be sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister and has been awarded the Finance portfolio, previously held by D. Jeyakumar.

A smiling K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam shook hands signifying the formal merger of both the factions at the party headquarters here.

Palaniswami said Paneerselvam will be AIADMK’s coordinator while he will be the joint coordinator.

“The burden in my heart is gone,” Panneerselvam said, adding “none can separate us, we are children of Amma (late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa), we are brothers.”

He said the merger was not only the desire of Tamil Nadu people, but also of the of 1.5 crore AIADMK cadres.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami praised Panneerselvam for facilitating the merger, amidst thunderous applause and jubilant scenes at a crowded cermony.

The development comes days after the Tamil Nadu government accepted the AIADMK (PTA)'s two key demands for merger — a probe into former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's death and conversion of her Poes Garden residence into a memorial.

The third demand was the ouster of AIADMK general secretary Sasikala and her family members from the party. Last week, at a party meeting chaired by Palaniswami, a resolution was adopted, shunning party deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran.

Dhinakaran, however, claims to have the support of as many as 20 MLAs, but has so far maintained that Palaniswami will continue to be the Chief Minister, though both leaders have publicly traded charges against each other.

What has also not gone unnoticed among sections of the government is Dhinakaran's show of strength at a recent Melur rally. The message that went out was that the sidelined leader did command a following, which the two factions could ill-afford to ignore.

(With additional inputs from The Hindu)