Rajya Sabha MP’s post hints at differences in ‘unified’ AIADMK

Three months after the merger of the rival AIADMK factions led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami and his now deputy O Panneerselvam, all is not well within the unified AIADMK. A hint has been dropped by senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP, V Maitreyan, in a social media post.

“It has been three months since the EPS-OPS faction merged. Months have gone, but have the hearts synced,” Maitreyan wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning. Maitreyan was the first AIADMK leader to join Panneerselvam’s rebellion against then party general secretary VK Sasikala on February 7, days after she tried to replace him as chief minister.

When asked what prompted him to write such a post, Maitreyan declined to comment, saying he has nothing more to say about it. 

His Tuesday’s post was his second hint at the discontent in the ruling AIADMK in this month. On November 6, he complained that he has been ignored in the relief works in the rain-hit areas.

When asked about Maitreyan’s remark, senior AIADMK leader and minister, D Jayakumar, said he was against discussing the party’s internal issues in public. He also denied any issues within the party.

Maitreyan, whose political roots can be traced to the RSS and BJP before joining the AIADMK, was supposed to have played a major role in the merger in which PM Narendra Modi had shown keen interest.