A tainted AIADMK could be the new NDA ally, provided the party’s warring factions merge first.
HE lacks the command and stature of J. Jayalalitha. Nor does he have the gift of the gab of the late AIADMK leader’s lifelong opponent M. Karunanidhi, 93. What chief minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy revels in is silence— something his predecessor O. Panneer selvam had slowly managed to come out of, gaining confidence after his revolt against the party’s rivalcamp leader V.K. Sasikala.
But behind that inscrutable quietude lies the mind of a master manipulator who has out manoeuvred his challengers, kept his flock together and wormed himself into the good books of faraway Delhi: the 63 year old announced the support of his group to the NDA’s presidential candidate. “The speed with which EPS (Palanisamy) not only forced OPS and TTV (Dhinakaran, AIADMK’s deputy general secretary) to follow suit, it also earned him the trust and goodwill of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah,” says a BJP leader.
And the union government quickly warmed up to him by inviting Palanisamy to the swearingin of Ramnath Kovind at Parliament House. Modi even granted him a long audience. The NDA ministers also lent a patient hearing in favour of exempting Tamil Nadu from the NEET for medical admissions. Two days later, on July 27, when the PM visited the southern state to inaugurate former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s memorial, Modi made sure the CM was next to him throughout the twohour function at coastal Rameswaram.
This story is from the August 14, 2017 edition of Outlook.
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This story is from the August 14, 2017 edition of Outlook.
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