AIADMK should call it quits: DMK amid reports of three-way faction

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) on Wednesday said the time was rife for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Government to step down and let a fresh mandate take place after T.T.V. Dhinakaran remained non-committal to the idea of merger between the Edapadi K. Palaniswamy and O. Panneerselvam factions.

"Now, it is clearly visible that there are three factions within the AIADMK party. The party is about to implode. Honestly, this government should introspect and step down. They are unable to govern the state and there is no administrative efficiency left. None of the leaders have the wherewithal and the competence to govern," DMK leader A. Sarvanan told ANI.

It is being reported that three factions are emerging within the AIADMK camp after T.T.V. Dhinakaran met her aunt, V.K. Sasikala, party general secretary, at Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara jail. Some of the MLAs are said to be backing Dhinakaran.

"They are just talking and talking; nothing has happened in the past 45 days. I came and told this to our General Secretary (Sasikala). She told that they would be given two months of time. Let them complete the merger; we will give them time. After that, we will take action as per the instruction given by our general secretary," he said after meeting his aunt V.K. Sasikala at a jail in Bengaluru.

He further said that the AIADMK MLAs have no fear in their mind and hearts except for few, and rest are taking the power of the general secretary in their hands.

Sasikala appointed Dhinakaran, her nephew, as her deputy before she went to jail to serve a four-year sentence for corruption.

He was sidelined by the party as it attempted a reunion with a rebel faction led by former Tamil Nadu chief minister Panneerselvam, whose main condition for a merger was that Sasikala and her family be kept away from the party and the government.