After former Tamil Nadu CM O.Panneerselvam laid down the condition of Sasikala's removal from the party for the merger of the two AIADMK fations, the TTV Dinakaran faction said there was no chance that either he or Sasikala would step down.
Dinakaran's confidant, MLA P. Vetrivel shot down the merger proposal after meeting Dinakaran. "Ministers have no authority to hold merger talks. No committee was formed for talks regarding the merger," he said.
Vetrivel also stressed that there was no question of Sasikala or Dinakaran stepping down. "OPS wants the merger to get Ministerial berths. Why should we accomodate him when we have 122 MLAs?" he asked.
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Earlier this morning, after holding late-night meetings and informal talks, former Panneerselvam said that the two factions of the AIADMK will merge only after V.K. Sasikala is ousted from the party.
Several senior Tamil Nadu Ministers went into a huddle on Monday night amid reports about the coming together of rival AIADMK factions led by Sasikala and O. Panneerselvam.
The development came on a day when the Delhi Police booked AIADMK (Amma) leader T.T.V. Dinakaran for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a failed bid to obtain the coveted "two-leaves" party symbol for his faction.
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Emerging from meeting at the residence of Electricity Minister K. Thangamani late last night, Finance Minister D. Jayakumar said modalities were being worked out to pave the way for the merger of the two factions.
Earlier in the day, Panneerselvam had expressed confidence that the Dhinakaran faction leaders would approach him for merger talks.
With PTI Inputs
