AIADMK chief and Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday ruled out admitting expelled leaders V K Sasikala and O Panneerselvam into the party, amid repeated statements by the duo appealing for unification of the factions before the 2026 assembly polls.
Palaniswami also mocked his former boss Sasikala’s statement that it was time for her “reenter” the political space after a gap of years. “What does this mean? This is not like joining a company after taking a break for three years. In 2021, she said she was quitting politics but now she says she will reenter,” Palaniswami said.
“She says the AIADMK has to be saved. Who saved AIADMK all these years? Who was guarding the party? It is the party cadre,” Palaniswami said.
After serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru, Sasikala had “stepped away” from politics in March 2021 but she began meeting her “supporters in May 2021 after AIADMK’s defeat in elections. The party’s worst performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls prompted her to meet her “supporters” last week during which she spoke of her “reentry.”
On former chief minister Panneerselvam’s appeal for unification of all factions, Palaniswami said no such move was possible and even cadres won’t accept his re-admission.
“He (OPS) fought against AIADMK in Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency by contesting as an independent. He already committed the same mistake by voting against the AIADMK government in 2017,” Palaniswami said, alleging that OPS had never been loyal to the AIADMK.