Presidential Election 2017: Support to Ram Nath Kovind in line with Jayalalithaa's thinking, says O Panneerselvam

Madurai: The decision to support NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind by all three factions of the AIADMK was in line with what late chief minister Jayalalithaa would have thought if she was alive, said O Panneerselvam, former chief minister and one of the leaders of a faction of the party. [caption id=“attachment_3462422” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of O Panneerselvam. PTI[/caption] “If Amma (Jayalalithaa) would have been alive, she would have supported the NDA candidate and that is what we have done (to support the NDA candidate),” he said at Usilampatti, about 50 km from Madurai. Panneerselvam also ruled out the possibility of the AIADMK factions merging, saying the seven-member panel constituted by his faction to hold merger talks had been dissolved. “Just because all factions of the AIADMK are supporting the NDA candidate, we cannot say we will merge,” he said. The former chief minister said they had asked the Election Commission to hold elections for the post of AIADMK general secretary. “We will take the next step after the Election Commission decides on our request,” he said. Referring to DMK working president MK Stalin’s statement that elections would soon be held in Tamil Nadu, he quipped “that is his view”. All three AIADMK factions, led by Chief Minister K Palaniswamy, O Panneerselvam and TTV Dinakaran had announced their support to the NDA presidential nominee last week.