AIADMK infighting underplayed ahead of the local body polls in Tamil Nadu?

The AIADMK party have seen numerous fluctuations after the demise of late AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in last two and half years, Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran took charge of the party after the demise of Jayalalithaa followed my multiple faction wars, but things went smoother in ADMK after the merger of O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, and both of them shared the power equally by each one holding the top post on the party and the government.

Though there were minor conflicts between the leaders of both the faction, they managed the settle the things within themselves without letting it get out of hand.

But the situation changed after the results of Lok Sabha polls. There was a cold war between both OPS and EPS for one cabinet/MOS seat which was allotted for Tamil Nadu where OPS was backing for his son and EPS backed another senior leader Vaithiyalingam. 

Two of the MLAs from the party have raised the demand to conduct a general council meeting to select a single powerful leader who can take the party on the right path and said that dual leadership is taking the party to the deep down and the party leadership shouldn't take a proper decision on anything. 

Crucial AIADMK meeting which happened on Wednesday comes in the light of dramatic internal developments within the party. The infighting between the EPS-OPS faction has resulted in a no representation for the state in Union Cabinet.

Interestingly, district secretaries were not allowed to take their cell phones inside the meeting hall, this shows how crucial the meeting was since the party leadership mentioned that the functionaries can raise issues during the meeting and not in the Public

However, the meeting passed five resolutions which includes the party cadres to get ready for the local body polls, thanking the voters and alliance parties.

The top leaders who spoke in the internal meeting insisted party cadres to understand the reason for their debacle in their meeting and asked them to prepare for the local body polls. No word about the conflict or the infighting spoken during the meeting.

Senior minister Jayakumar who spoke to media after the meeting said, "There is no crisis in the party, nothing about changing the leadership was discussed in the meeting,This was a routine meeting to analyze our performance in the election" 

Another senior leader and Rajya sabha MP Maithreyan said "The party will not split at any cost" 

READ | Tamil Nadu CM Edapaddi Palaniswami Rubbishes Claims Of Rift Between AIADMK And BJP

Just after the meeting, the party leadership also issued a gag order for all its spokespersons to not appear in TV debates or voice out the opinion until the further orders are given. The statement also said that disciplinary action will also be taken against the spokespersons who violate this diktat.

Keeping the upcoming local body elections in mind, the AIADMK perhaps underplayed the internal conflict which is subsiding now to keep the flocks together. The senior leaders who spoke during the meeting also insisted the word many times which shows that the BJP-ADMK alliance will also continue for the local body polls with the other alliance parties.

READ | Edappadi K Palaniswami Clears Air On Reports Of 'rift' In AIADMK-BJP Alliance