INDIA
Panneerselvam's revelation has stirred a hornet's nest with the Opposition parties questioning the BJP's role in state's governance.
Giving credence to Tamil Nadu Opposition parties' charge that BJP played an active role in the rebellion and subsequent merger of the AIADMK factions, Deputy Chief Minister and AIADMK's coordinator O Panneerselvam revealed on Saturday that PM Modi had asked him to merge his faction with the one led by CM E Palaniswami and be part of the government.
"The Prime Minister told me that under the present circumstances, the two factions should merge to save the party," Panneerselvam (OPS), who had met Modi several times after rebelling against the then party general secretary VK Sasikala in February last year, told his party office-bearers in his hometown Theni on Friday.
Panneerselvam's revelation has stirred a hornet's nest with the Opposition parties questioning the BJP's role in state's governance. "I told him (Modi) I don't want to be part of the government and just a role in the party would be enough. He insisted I should be a minister and be a part of the government. That's why I am a minister now," Panneerselvam said, adding Amma (former CM J Jayalalithaa) made him MLA four times and CM twice, and "that honour itself is enough for me."
Senior AIADMK leader and fisheries minister D Jayakumar declined to comment on Panneerselvam's remarks, saying it could have been made during a one-on-one meeting between the two. "If someone says govern well, take forward Amma's rule and if that family (of Sasikala) is not required, we will see the positives in it," Jayakumar told reporters here.
BJP state president Tamilisai Sounderrajan also declined to comment but noted that "during a conversation, the PM may have said something but I don't have a right to give an opinion on that."
State Congress president Su Thirunavukarasar said OPS's statement only shows that the AIADMK government is still under the control of the BJP. "We have been telling this from the beginning," he said.
“PM Modi said ‘to save party you should merge both AIADMK factions’. I agreed but said I will not be a minister and will only take party position. The PM said ‘no no, you should be a minister and continue with politics’.”
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