OPS, TTV join hands to ‘save’ party, beat DMK

CHENNAI: In a major realignment in the Opposition camp, former chief minister and ousted AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam and AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran joined together to retrieve the AIADMK party from the clutches of “betrayers” and defeat the “evil force” DMK.

“We will work like CPM and CPI with a common goal. We want to retrieve the AIADMK from the betrayer, who hijacked the party by unleashing money power, and defeat the evil force DMK. So, myself and brother OPS will work together to achieve our goal,” Dhinakaran said in a joint press meet along with OPS and his political consultant Panrutti S Ramachandran at his Adyar residence.

It was the official meeting between the two after OPS launched Dharmayutham against former AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala and Dhinakaran in February 2017 after he was asked to step down as the Chief Minister. OPS called the Dharmayutham a success once he joined hands with then CM Edappadi K Palaniswami in August 2017, besides keeping the “Mannargudi family” out of the party.

The senior leaders also said that a meeting with Sasikala would take place soon in the coming days.

OPS, TTV vow to restoreAIADMK to faithful cadre

Taking a dig at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and his associates, O Panneerselvam said that the ambition of the party cadre and true loyalists of the former party supremo J Jayalalithaa and party founder MG Ramachandran was to unite the like-minded forces to defeat the betrayers.

“In the Tiruchy conference, the cadre have emphasised to bring everyone together to revive the party,” said OPS, while TTV Dhinakaran echoed the same and said that the party cadres have been asking about the meeting of OPS for the last six to seven months. And it happened.

“We know each other well. We were divided for certain reasons, but there was no hard feelings. Now, we have come together and there is no selfishness in our move. Our only goal is to return the AIADMK back to the faithful party cadre, who are followers of Amma,” said Dhinakaran.

Panrutti Ramachandran, who played a role in bringing the warring unit together, said that OPS and Dhinakaran will have working arrangements to free the party from the clutches of the anti-social elements. “We are confident of achieving our goal,” said Ramachandran, a party veteran since the days of AIADMK founder MGR.

To a query on OPS recently meeting Sabareesan, son-in-law of Chief Minister MK Stalin, OPS said it was just a courtesy call at a cricket stadium. There is nothing political about it.