Theni AMMK leader now gets feelers from DMK 

Sources have it that the former Dhinakaran confidant and DMK negotiators were in contact during the last few days. Tamilselvan and the in house think tank of DMK run by an influential member of the DMK first family have discussed the possibility of the former joining the DMK, as did a few rebels in the AMMK recently.

Though the details of the ‘negotiation’ have not been revealed, a party privy to the parleys said the arrival of the former Andipatti MLA could end the vacuum in Theni, a weak terrain for the DMK. A party senior who did not wish to be named said the beleaguered AMMK rebel was also consoled by Aravakurichi MLA Senthil Balaji, who was instrumental in bringing former AIADMK district secretary VP Kalairajan from the AIADMK to Anna Arivalayam. Strangely, the very idea of accommodating another rebel from AIADMK or its breakaway faction AMMK has not enthused many DMK second rung leaders.

“It is not good for the party. He might have some influence among his community in native Theni. But he is not a tall leader who can help DMK in a big way. We have won Andipatti and Periyakulam without anyone’s help there,” reasoned a DMK senior who did not wish to be named.

“DMK will look like an asylum for defectors and rebels. It is common to accommodate leaders from rival parties. But taking such opportunist leaders who ditch their parties after poll defeats will not bode well for us,” a district secretary requesting anonymity remarked. Significantly, the acrimony between Thanga Tamilselvan and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam would naturally push him towards the DMK. Even Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will not want to antagonise Panneerselvam to take Thanga Tamilselvan on board, and that too after the party coordinator managed to send his son to the Parliament even when others lost. However, Tamilselvan would just be another party member, as is Kalairajan in DMK now.