AIADMK factions confirm merger, may join NDA soon

NEW DELHI: In a post-merger reshuffle of his Cabinet, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Monday inducted O Panneerselvam as his Deputy. The CM also accommodated Panneerselvam aide K Pandiarajan in the Cabinet, while re-allocating portfolios among existing ministers following the formal merger of the two factions of AIADMK. The BJP leadership was waiting for the merger of the two factions of Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK. The BJP has reportedly played a decisive role in pushing for the merger and is confident that once united, the party of the late Jayalalithaa would follow the same course as the JDU. The AIADMK, sources said, could be rewarded with two cabinet berths and posts of two junior ministers once the party joins the NDA. The AIADMK has 37 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha. BJP leaders felt that an alliance with the AIADMK would be politically significant as it would pave the way for the largely Hindi heartland party to spread wings in the south. The NDA will rule over 74 per cent political landscape of the country if AIADMK merges with the ruling alliance. BJP managers said they had drawn up a detailed plan to create a splash in Tamil Nadu by playing what they described as the "native card". "We will embrace regional icons like poet-saint Thiruvalluvar in a big way and connect with Tamil pride," a BJP leader said, confident the party would easily surmount the perceived contradiction that the "nationalist" party wouldn't be able to assimilate the strong regional identity of the southern state. Shah has identified a host of Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu in the list of 120 new seats the BJP wants to win in 2019. (With inputs from The Telegraph Calcutta)