AIADMK's TTV Dinakaran is seeking unification of the party's factions (File)
AIADMK Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran today said he will resume party work on August 4 after a two-month hiatus and embark on a state-wide tour to seek merger of factions. "Strengthening the party also means bringing together those who had walked apart," he said, alluding to factions led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
Nothing that he was "no competition" to anyone in the party, Mr Dinakaran told reporters
he did not feel he was being "sidelined", asserting he will do his "duty" for the party.
His announcement on resuming party work assumes significance as the K Palaniswami camp had earlier decided to keep him, and jailed party chief and his aunt VK Sasikala, away from the party's affairs and the government.
Finance Minister D Jayakumar indicated that a patch-up with Mr Dinakaran was "unlikely". "We are very clear, the party and government is led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. We are not going to be worried about others," the senior AIADMK (Amma) camp leader said when asked about Mr Dinakaran's comments on resuming active politics.
Though Mr Dinakaran had questioned the authority of the Amma camp leader to sideline him, he had in June after coming out on bail in the
Election Commission bribery case, said he would wait for two months for the merger of AIADMK factions and then take up active party work.
He had given the time-frame for merger after meeting Sasikala, serving her term in a disproportionate assets case in a Bengaluru prison, on June 5. He had then said that Sasikala had told him what to do in case the factions did not unite in 60 days and that deadline draws to a close on August 4.
Mr Dhinakaran today said he will begin the state-wide tour on August 4 to strengthen the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. "I am going to tour the state to meet party cadres and people for party's growth and for the party's win in 2019 Lok Sabha polls," he said.
On the merger, he said despite the time given, there had been no progress. "As a party worker and deputy general secretary I have a duty to work for the party and strengthen it." Mr Dinakaran said he considered Mr Palaniswami a good friend.
Speaking to reporters after taking part in a meeting chaired by Mr Palaniswami, which was expected to take forward the merger issue of AIADMK factions, Finance Minister D Jayakumar said it was about the ongoing centenary celebrations of party founder and former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran.
Stating that the "door for talks" is still open, he said he was confident that a "good, cordial solution will be reached soon."
However, the Amma camp senior leader's conciliatory tone was apparently aimed at only Mr Panneerselvam and not Mr Dinakaran. Though the O Panneerselvam faction disbanded a panel set up by them to hold talks, Mr Jayakumar said talks were "happening at various levels", again insisting that the door for talks was not closed.