Jayalalithaa’s Seventh Death Anniversary Churns Up Hostilities Among Splintered AIADMK Factions

The seventh death anniversary of Tamil Nadu’s chief minister J Jayalalithaa may prove to be a daunting task for Chennai police as her acolytes and the splintered party factions are planning to pay tributes at the Marina beach Memorial in a show of strength. Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), the legitimate AIADMK chief has already sent the fiat to all 15 of his district functionaries….I want a deluge of party workers for the homage. His rival O Panneerselvam (OPS) struggling to get legitimacy for his faction and stay relevant has corralled his ragtag following to come in large numbers. TTV Dinakaran has set a target of 1000 persons to be brought by each party functionary. But wait, the icing on the cake…the dowager Queen Sasikala who still clings on to her title of General Secretary is planning a power packed presence …remember her first performance when she hit JJ’s monument with her fists after being convicted? Each faction has sent letters to the police asking for different time slots for paying “respects” to Amma. The police Intelligence wing is now fearing and processing a possible law and order issue which has its roots in the Thevar Poojai. On October 30, when the Thevar Guru Poojai mammoth gathering was held, EPS attended to convey his loyalty to the Mukkulathur community. But his motorcade was hit by chappals and stones, an incident that left the AIADMK seething. AIADMK blamed the OPS and TTV factions for this. A poignant memorial meet is now giving nightmares to the police.