With With V.K. Sasikala, aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, set to return to Chennai on Monday, the AIADMK on Saturday evening took stock of the party’s preparations for the Assembly election.
However, senior leaders said those present at the meeting, which took place at the party headquarters and lasted nearly an hour, “did not at all discuss Sasikala’s return”.
Another functionary said Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam had raised the matter of accommodating members of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, nephew of Sasikala, into the party but this did not evoke any response.
In attendance
Among those who attended the meeting were Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami; Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam; K.P. Munsamy and R. Vaithilingam, deputy coordinators of the party; and E. Madhusudanan, chairman of the presidium. Ministers and Secretaries of the district units of the party were also present.
The meeting focused on how to propagate the “achievements” of the government and contrast them with the performance of the DMK, the principal Opposition party, when they were in power, the leaders added.
The party’s office-bearers were called upon to ensure that the proposed visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the city next week was a grand success.
Asked whether the submission of complaints by a delegation of Ministers and senior leaders to the police against Sasikala should have been made “high profile” events, the leaders said such an approach was needed to spread the “right message” among the party workers, who would otherwise get confused.
