TTV Open to Merging AIADMK With OPS-EPS, But on These Terms

Dhinakaran did not name ministers that should be dropped while also confirming that he did not wish to become CM.

File photo of TTV Dhinakaran.

(Photo Courtesy: Tea Talk)

RK Nagar MLA and ousted AIADMK Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran said that he is ready for a truce with the ruling EPS-OPS faction.

Proposing a new merger formula to end the bitter fight with the ruling party, Dhinakaran suggested that they drop six ministers from the cabinet and appoint one of the 18 disqualified MLAs from his camp as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

“Elections can be avoided in Tamil Nadu only if there is a change of guard. Six ministers should be dropped from the cabinet,” Dhinakaran said at Kathiramangalam village in Thanjavur.

However, he did not name the ministers that should be dropped while also confirming that he did not wish to become the Chief Minister himself.

"While I do not wish to become Chief Minister, let any of the 18 disqualified MLAs be made the Chief Minister," Dhinakaran added.

He claimed that there is a strong possibility of a change in the government in Tamil Nadu without the need for conducting a snap Assembly elections. “There is a strong possibility that there could be a regime change without even the Assembly elections in the state,” he said speaking to The Hindu.

The TTV camp has been calling for Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy and deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam as betrayers ever since his revolt and ruling AIADMK’s general council decision to remove VK Sasikala and Dhinakaran from the post of general secretary and deputy general secretary last year.

However, AIADMK dismissed Dhinakaran’s offer and called it ‘comical’. "Every statement of Dhinakaran has become comical. He is an independent MLA and his political capability is not even known to members of the public at large. We have decided to ignore his statements," a senior party leader and AIADMK spokesman told Times of India.

(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)

Update: In response to TTV Dhinakaran’s merger formula, Fisheries Minister Jayakumar has said that it will just not happen.