During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, O Panneerselvam urged him to dismiss the Tamil Nadu government, reports R Rajagopalan.
Last week's meeting between former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw the leader of the Puratchi Thalaivi faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam raise five critical points, the prime among them being the dismissal of the Edappadi K Palaniswami government on corruption charges.
According to sources, the PM assured Panneerselvam that his government was with him to root out corruption at any level. "We will not tolerate corruption, at whichever and whatever level it will be. Let us work together," was the cryptic comment by the prime minister.
Panneerselvam informed Modi that the people of Tamil Nadu welcomed it when the income tax department raided some state ministers. He also told Modi that the people believe that only he (Modi) can take such a bold step.
Sources said the former Tamil Nadu CM met the PM with a five-point agenda.
1. He pointed out that VK Sasikala, who is currently serving a jail term in a Bengaluru prison in the disproportionate assets case, is regularly meeting Tamil Nadu ministers inside the jail and is in touch with the Congress, and is distinctly anti-BJP.
2. Pursue the cases against Tamil Nadu cabinet ministers who were raided by the income tax department, as there has been a lull in the matter since then.
3. The Centre should impress upon the state government to hold panchayat elections where the groundswell for his faction of the AIADMK will be tested. Panneerselvam also assured the prime minister that the Bharatiya Janata Party may have an alliance with his faction.
4. Freezing of the Two Leaves election symbol of the united AIADMK by the Election Commission was a serious step leading to a legal war between the two factions, which the EC is seized of. There has been a delay in the matter due to the filing of huge affidavits by the 1250 general council members of the AIADMK.
5. The Palaniswami camp is still close to Sasikala, with a legislator or even a minister or two meeting her everyday to convey the latest trends in the party as well as the state, although they have presented the opposite to the BJP leaders which even Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu has bought into. OPS said the Palaniswami camp and Sasikala were inseparable.
During the meeting, Pannerselvam also informed Modi that around 25-30 MLAs of the Sasikala group are ready to join his faction.
Rajya Sabha MP Dr V Maitreyan, one of the first leaders to have joined the Panneerselvam camp after he rebelled against Sasikala, told Rediff.com that when Panneereselvam put across these points, Modi listened to him with rapt attention.
Maitreyan said that during the meeting a lot of jokes were made in Hindi which was translated to OPS by him.
Interestingly, Maitreyan is a cancer specialist who did his MD from Government Medical College, Nagpur, and had been part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP before joining the AIADMK in 1995. He speaks Marathi fluently, and is considered to be close to the BJP leadership.
R Rajagopalan is a senior journalist in New Delhi who has been reporting on Tamil Nadu affairs for decades.
