The merger talks between the two factions of the ruling AIAMDK in Tamil Nadu is likely to get delayed even further with no one in the know of when the ‘final’ parleys will begin.
A leader belonging to O Panneerselvam’s faction dropped hints suggesting that the merger was not happening any time in near future.
“The merger talk is like a Tamil movie song... It will happen, some may say, but won't happen. It won't happen some will say but will happen. The talks will surely happen. But it may take some time. The talks may not happen soon,” the leader told news agency IANS on terms of anonymity.
After the death of CM J Jayalalithaa last December, the AIADMK split into two factions - one led by party jailed general secretary VK Sasikala and the other by the later leader’s Man Friday, Panneerselvam.
The spilt even forced the Election Commission to freeze the party's ‘two leaves’ symbol and postpone the RK Nagar assembly bypolls.
The Panneerselvam camp wants Sasikala, her nephew and party’s deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and their family members ousted from the party and a CBI probe into Jayalalithaa's death before the merger talks begin.
The Sasikala faction, on the other hand, has maintained that there was a petition pending in the Election Commission challenging her election as the general secretary and it was for the poll panel to decide her fate.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam has decided to go on a mass contact programme across the state starting on May 5.
