Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and chief of the Republican Party of India (A) Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party had “no role” in his call to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam of T.T.V. Dhinakaran to come together.
Mr. Athawale told The Hindu over the phone: “I have not even discussed the matter with the BJP. No one from that party has asked me to issue any such statement.” He added: “It was my own initiative.”
Common groundExplaining the reason behind his floating the idea, the Union Minister replied that both members and leaders of the AIADMK and the AMMK were “followers of [former Chief Minister] Jayalalithaa. When Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam could come together after remaining in rival camps for a few months, what is the problem for the AIADMK and Mr. Dhinakaran to come together?”