The AIADMK top brass appears to be a worried lot these days. Apart from winning a good number of the 22 bypoll bound Assembly seats, the AIADMK leadership is now equally concerned about the loyalty of the existing MLAs.
Chennai:
Even a few ministers were learnt to have struck a deal with the rebel AMMK led by TTV Dhinakaran for the recently concluded Lok Sabha election. A couple of ministers within AIADMK circles were even accused s of extending monetary support to the breakaway faction during the election campaign. A minister from Delta and another from Madurai were found to have generously funded the LS candidates of AMMK in the region, much to the chagrin of CMO.
Even before it recovered from the shocker, another influential minister from the west had secretly met members of the AMMK in poll-bound Aravakurichi. More than the meeting, it was what the minister told his friend in AMMK that disturbed peace in the ruling camp.
The senior minister had confirmed that a reunion after May 23 was a certainty. The perturbed senior member of the cabinet who had also expressed his anguish at the split affecting their poll prospects in Aravakurichi was understood to have told his ‘friend’ that they would soon work together in the constituency. The comforting words and monetary assistance of his cabinet colleagues has upset the leadership, which fears that a merger could trigger a change in their political trajectory.
—K Karthikeyan, Chennai