Support to NDA prez candidate in line with Jaya's thinking:OPS

The decision to support NDA's presidential candidate by all three factions of the AIADMK was in line with what late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would have taken if she was alive, said O Panneerselvam, former chief minister and one of the leaders of a faction of the party.

"If Amma (Jayalalithaa) would have been alive she would have supported the NDA candidate and that is what we have done (to support the NDA candidate)", he told reporters at Usilampatti, about 50 km from here today.

Panneerselvam also ruled out the possibility of the AIADMK factions merging, saying the seven-member panel constituted by his faction to hold merger talks had been dissolved.

"Just because all factions of the AIADMK are supporting the NDA candidate, we cannot say we will merge," he said.

The former chief minister said they had asked the Election Commission to hold elections for the post of AIADMK general secretary.

"We will take the next step after the EC decides on our request," he said.

Referring to DMK working President M K Stalin's statement that elections would soon be held in Tamil Nadu, he quipped "that is his view".

All three AIADMK factions, led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami, O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran had announced their support to the NDA presidential nominee last week.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)