AIADMK crisis: Palaniswami meets Narendra Modi amid growing speculation on party factions merger

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid growing speculation over the merger of the two factions of the AIADMK in the state. [caption id=“attachment_3444356” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswamy. PTI[/caption] Palaniswami, however, told reporters in New Delhi that he only discussed with Modi the state’s demand that it be exempted from the purview of the all-India medical college entrance test, NEET. The chief minister, along with Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, met the prime minister at his office in Parliament House. Stalled negotiations on the merger of two AIADMK factions picked up again on Thursday after a meeting presided over by Palaniswami questioned the appointment of TTV Dinakaran as AIADMK’s deputy general secretary. A resolution passed in the meeting said Dinakaran’s elevation to the post, hours before his aunt VK Sasikala was taken to a jail in Bengaluru, was against party bylaws, a condition which former chief minister O Panneerselvam’s faction of the party had pushed for a merger. Panneerselvam, the head of the rival faction, is also in Delhi. Both he and the chief minister attended Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu’s oath-taking ceremony on Friday morning. Panneerselvam is also trying for an appointment with Modi, sources in New Delhi said. Members of his faction will also meet officials of the Election Commission (EC). The sources said the Panneerselvam faction will present a copy of Thursday’s resolution to the EC.