AIADMK chief Palaniswami to chair key party meet on Monday

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami will chair a party meet of key office-bearers, including the district secretaries and MLAs on Monday.

The discussion comes in the backdrop of strained ties with the BJP, its former ally.

According to a party release, the meeting will be held here at the party headquarters-- Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR Maaligai today.

Following a war of words over late Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai over certain remarks about him by the BJP state chief K Annamalai, senior AIADMK leader Jayakumar had on September 18 called off the alliance between the two, insisting he was conveying the party's stand on the issue.

An AIADMK delegation that flew to the national capital on Friday met party president J P Nadda and Union Minister Piyush Goyal, in-charge of Tamil Nadu, and sought the leadership's intervention in making Annamalai apologise.

If this was not possible, then they could consider posting a non-controversial leader who could work in close coordination with the AIADMK during the Lok Sabha election next year, they reportedly said.

The BJP central leadership, though not in so many words, conveyed that it backed the aggressive politics of Annamalai for the party's development, a senior party leader had said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Jayakumar said, ''There is no change in our September 18 stand... there is no alliance with BJP.'' He declined to speak further on the matter, indicating it might come up for discussion on September 25.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)