With TN CM E Palaniswami and his faction increasingly and openly defying the Sasikala family, and a slow degradation of the family’s control of the party, the warring factions within the family seem to be coming to offering peace to each other.
The Times of India reports that members of the Mannargudi family are trying bring together Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran and her brother VK Dhivaharan, and that two rounds of talks have already been conducted between representatives of the two key figures.
It is reported that while both TTV Dhinakaran and VK Dhivaharan have not met for a long time, the talks between the two factions were facilitated by Sasikala’s husband M Natrajan in Chennai. An AIADMK functionary told TOI that the first round of talks happened on June 12 and there was a second round of talks on Sunday among the family members.
On Sunday, Dhivaharan’s son Jeyanandh Dhivaharan and Sasikala’s brother Vinothagan’s son V Venkatesh met on behalf of the two. Reports state that Dhinakaran’s brother Baskaran was also part of the meeting, says TOI.
According to reports, they both had been having problem after the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and a public meeting organized by Dhinakaran in Mannargudi was denied permission. But now, after the talks, it is said that the public meeting will happen after June 28, 2017.
Dhinakaran and Dhivakaran have both realized that the party was going of the family’s control, said an MLA from Dhinakaran’s faction. Moreover, the family was not consulted in the recent IAS and IPS postings, and awarding of contracts, which was the norm earlier.
Meanwhile, Dhivakaran’s son Jeyanandh Dhivakaran in an interview to India Today said that the family is distancing themselves from the government. “For the time being, we are distancing ourselves because he is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is functioning in his own way. So, let him function. I think there are many officials to guide him. So, there is no need to for us to guide him. If needed, we can give him advice," he said.
He also dismissed allegations of ministers distancing themselves from Sasikala. "When EPS became the Chief Minister, Sasikala told him to function independently. She is not going to dictate anything (to him). She is going to run the party. She is still the General Secretary and she has to run the party," he maintained.