The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Thursday searched over 20 premises and places belonging to former AIADMK minister KC Veeramani, which the party is looking at as part of a pressure strategy on him after he lost Struggling to stop discontent. Electricity earlier this year.
The raids coincided with the wedding of AIADMK rebel-turned-AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran’s daughter. The ceremony passed without any program, with party stalwarts staying away. The leaders waited with bated breath to see where Dinakaran’s aunt and late Jayalalithaa’s confidante VK Sasikala would turn.
Several AIADMK MLAs are reportedly in talks with Sasikala, including the E Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam camps. “The general perception is that she is the only leader who can bring AIADMK together. There is apprehension that Palaniswami (former chief minister) may be called for questioning soon in the Kodanadu estate dacoity case and murders, as he has been named by the accused. A former AIADMK leader said, at least 20 AIADMK MLAs are in talks with the Sasikala camp, including former ministers.
The Kodanadu estate was owned by Jayalalithaa. While Chief Minister MK Stalin, who has tried to break Tamil Nadu’s trend by maintaining cordial relations with opposition parties, is expected to tread carefully on the matter, AIADMK leaders say questioning Palaniswami will hurt the party significantly. .
a senior official told Indian Express He is hopeful that things will move forward in the Kodanadu case in a month.
A source close to Sasikala said that she sees panneerselvam, who had lost to Palaniswami in the CM race, the weaker and therefore more resilient between the two. Sasikala, on the other hand, blamed Palaniswami for preventing her from re-entering the AIADMK after her release from jail.
A source said that since 2017, Panneerselvam has held several meetings with him and Dhinakaran amid the party’s power struggle.
“Sasikala knows that Panneerselvam may not be the leader material, but she is the best No. 2. She will wait and see how things turn out in the coming weeks,” said the source. His credibility increased after his release.
The AIADMK believes that Thursday’s action by the DVAC proves that the ruling DMK government will try to buck its woes. Veeramani, who holds the commercial tax portfolio in the AIADMK government, is the third former party minister to appear in DVAC NET after MR Vijayabhaskar (Transport) and SP Velumani (Municipal Administration).
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