more-in The merger of both the factions of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam – AIADMK (Amma) and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) – is expected to go a long way in strengthening the hands of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in his native Salem district. Even though Mr. Palaniswami’s elevation to head the state government in February brought cheer to his supporters, they could not celebrate the same with much fanfare, as a good majority of the former legislators hailing from the district preferred to remain in the O. Panneerselvam camp. This was despite the fact that all but one of the nine ruling party MLAs elected from the district, apart from Mr. Palaniswami, remaining in the AIADMK (Amma) faction. All the eight sitting MLAs who supported Mr. Palaniswami were new comers handpicked by Mr. Palaniswami himself in the May 2016 Assembly elections. Veteran leader and former Minister S. Semmalai was the only ruling party MLA who supported OPS in the district. OPS got major support from Salem district with as many as 14 former MLAs, including former Minister Vijayalakshmi Palaniswami, a former MP, a former Mayor, backing him. The stiff opposition in his home district was proving a major headache to Mr. Palaniswami ever since he assumed office. The repeated efforts of Palaniswami supporters to woo the local leaders did not yield any fruits all these seven months. The opposition for the Chief Minister was so serious, that even the Salem district unit of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma), which met under the leadership of Mr. Semmalai, adopted a resolution opposing the merger move. The resolution gave a new twist to the ongoing merger efforts then and shocked the Palaniswami faction. Even the ruling faction alleged that the resolution proved a big stumbling block in the merger talks. The repeated visits of the Chief Minister to his native district could not break the ice. Even though the merger of both the factions has brought much cheer to the grass root level workers of the party it has disappointed the local leaders of OPS camp, with Mr. Semmalai not being inducted in the cabinet. Ever since, the merger talks gained importance in the last few days, Semmalai was tipped for a cabinet berth. His non-inclusion has disappointed the OPS camp functionaries in the district to the core. “Though we are happy at the merger, the denial of the cabinet post to Semmalai is a big disappointment”, says a former MLA.

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