Chennai: Amid the split in the party, AIADMK rebel leaders S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam have called for reinduction of V K Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran into the party. Within hours, Sasikala responded, saying unity was the need of the hour to secure victory in future.Former minister S P Velumani said the focus should now shift towards strengthening the party rather than expelling leaders. “Chinnamma (V K Sasikala) and Annan T T V Dhinakaran should be brought back and the party should be unified,” Velumani said. He said Edappadi K Palaniswami was still the general secretary and the MLAs have no difference of opinion on his position in the party. However, EPS should focus on strengthening the party, he said. Velumani said it was Sasikala who made EPS the chief minister in 2017. “I was there with them at that time,” he said. Velumani said they attempted to convince EPS against removing O Panneerselvam, J C D Prabhakar and R Vaithilingam from AIADMK. “We said it would not augur well for the party,” he said.C Ve Shanmugam also seconded his opinion. “There was a demand in the party even before the election that all who have left or were expelled should be reinducted. But EPS did not favour the idea,” he said.Sasikala said unity was the need of the hour. “Our mistake was lack of unity. I am reiterating now that all of us should be united,” she said. She said AIADMK got defeated because of lack of unity. “I have confidence that we will bounce back if we get united,” she said.She said reports of a DMK-AIADMK tie-up to form govt had left her distressed. “DMK opposition is our blood. We shouldn’t even dream of aligning with DMK,” she said. TNN
