Two days ahead of an announcement on the party's Chief Ministerial candidate, ruling AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday hinted at the probability of a"decision" considering the welfare of the people and cadres. Amid a standoff with party co-coordinator and Chief Minister K Palaniswami over constituting a 11-member steering committee and on who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party for the 2021 assembly elections in the state, Panneerselvam, on his twitter handle, posted a cryptic message.
The top leader said he had so far taken "decisions" only considering the welfare of the Tamil Nadu people and the AIADMK cadres. In future too, he would continue to take "decisions" taking into account the interests of the people and party workers, he said. Whatever has happened already was well and good, present events were also well and good and the future too would turnout well, he said, indicating that the churning in the party over the leadership question would eventually be for people's good and the AIADMK as well.
Panneerselvam's remarks assume significance seen against the backdrop of AIADMK's statement days ago that it would announce the Chief Ministerial nominee on October 7. Meanwhile, both Panneerselvam, who wound up his visit to his home district Theni on Monday, and Chief Minister K Palaniswami continued informal discussions with party leaders.
A banner, put up at Theni hailing Panneerselvam as the "Chief Minister" was later removed, reportedly on his instruction. Palaniswami held consultations with his Cabinet colleagues in Chennai.
Asked about Panneerselvam's tweet, political analyst Sumanth Raman said there could be two interpretations to it. "One is that he was going to take a big decision. Anotheris that there may not be a drastic move considering factors like strengthening the party and fulfilling the wishes of the cadres," he told PTI.
The message has been worded in a cryptic manner deliberately to create a sense of expectation from him and to turn the focus on him, Raman said. The Deputy Chief Minister may also expect a face-saverkind of an arrangement from Palaniswami, he said.
At the September 28 AIADMK Executive Committee meeting, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had a verbal duel over who should be the Chief Ministerial candidate and on setting up apanel that would guide key decisions of the party. Following AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa's death in December, 2016, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami led separate factions and they came together in 2017 August easing out V K Sasikala (Jayalalithaa's aide) and her relatives from the party.
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