Former Andipatti legislator and AMMK propaganda secretary Thanga Tamilselvan on Wednesday reiterated that he was not contemplating returning to the AIADMK or joining the DMK.
“I now require a respite for having worked intensively over the last two years [for Mr. Dhinakaran],” Mr. Tamilselvan told reporters at the Chennai airport.
He said he had not received any feelers from the ruling party. “As of now, I am not joining any party, be it the DMK or the AIADMK. This would be my position in future too,” Mr. Tamilselvan said, adding that he was “feeling relieved and happy”.
Accusing the AMMK founder of having taken “wrong decisions” on several occasions, the former Andipatti MLA said Mr. Dhinakaran’s conduct was unbecoming of a leader. The AMMK founder had deviated from his original decision to ‘retrieve’ the AIADMK and the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. This was why the cadre of the ruling party and the people did not support the AMMK. The results of the Lok Sabha election and the Assembly bypolls had shown that not even 1% of ruling party cadre supported the AMMK, contrary to the claim that 90% of the workers was with the breakaway group, he said.
When asked whether he had met V.K. Sasikala, AMMK president and Mr. Dhinakaran’s aunt, in recent times, he replied in the negative, saying in the last two years or so [since she was imprisoned in Bengaluru], he had met her only once. Mr. Tamilselvan added that Sasikala was firm on getting back control of the AIADMK and its symbol.
Jayakumar weighs in
Meanwhile, D. Jayakumar, Fisheries Minister and AIADMK’s organising secretary, denied that there was any obstacle to re-admitting Mr. Tamilselvan in the ruling party if he took the first step of declaring his intention to come back.
The Minister was replying to a question whether Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who, like Mr. Tamilselvan, hailed from Theni district, was opposing the former MLA’s re-entry. “If and when he takes the first step of announcing his intention to return, the party leadership will decide whether to take him back or not,” Mr. Jayakumar added.