August 21, 2017: In a significant development in Tamil Nadu politics, the warring factions of the AIADMK led by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy and his predecessor O Panneerselvam were merged together today.
Both the leaders flanked by their supporters visited the party headquarters in Chennai and formally announced the unification which came after a bitter split about six months ago. The unification comes following marathon parleys.
Mr Palaniswami said, Mr Paneerselvam will be AIADMK’s coordinator while he will be the joint coordinator. He said, the merger was not only the desire of Tamil Nadu people, but also of the AIADMK cadres.
Following the merger, the cabinet was expanded this evening. Mr Panneerselvam was sworn-in as deputy Chief Minister by Governor Vidyasagar Rao in Raj Bhavan. Finance, Housing, Urban Development and a few other departments have been allocated to him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated O Panneerselvam and other leaders who were inducted in the Tamil Nadu government today.
In a series of tweets, Mr Modi expressed hope that the state will scale newer heights of progress in the years to come. Mr. Modi assured all possible support from the Centre to Chief Minister E. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for the development of the state. (AIR News)
