The Bharatiya Janata Party, though not a big player in Tamil Nadu politics, is trying to bring about a truce between AIADMK and its former general secretary, V K Sasikala as they are all pitted against the common and a very formidable rival, DMK.
However, the AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami at present appears to be in no mood to accept any such peace offer and accommodate Sasikala.
Neither Sasikala, nor her nephew T T V Dhinakaran have said anything against the AIADMK, but called the DMK a common enemy. On February 24 Sasikala called for the return of the government of Amma, that is, Jayalalithaa.
But the problem is that she still uses the flag of AIADMK and claims that she is the real leader of the party. Her nephew had floated Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam in March 2018 and became its general secretary. This was after he won the by-poll for the R K Nagar seat, which was earlier represented by none else but Jayalalithaa.
Though the BJP would like to bring about both these factions together yet the problem is that the saffron party itself is not in a position to dictate its term in the state. Even during the seat-sharing talks the AIADMK is not giving much space to the BJP. While the latter is demanding 30 seats in the House of 234 the AIADMK is not going to leave more than 21 seats. Its logic is that it has left only 23 seats for PMK, which is certainly a much bigger party in the state than the BJP, which has hardly any say.
Many political analysts are of the view that neither Sasikala nor Palaniswami are keen to come together. Sasikala, who has been barred from contesting election till 2027, wants to wait for the next term for her nephew. She is fully aware that once Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam are defeated in the coming poll their hold over the party would weaken and thus it would pave the way for Dhinakaran.
