NEW DELHI: Senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader SP Velumani on Wednesday asserted that there was “no split in the party, only differences of opinion”, signalling a possible reconciliation within the AIADMK after rival factions withdrew petitions filed against each other before the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker.“There is no split in the party, only differences of opinion. We are all united. There are no conflicting views,” Velumani told reporters, referring to tensions that surfaced within the party after the Tamil Nadu assembly elections.The remarks came after both the Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) camp and the Velumani-CV Shanmugam faction decided to withdraw petitions seeking action against each other.“After the election, we expressed certain views and took some decisions that were seen as being supportive of the ruling party. They had submitted a petition seeking the disqualification of our 25 members. Likewise, we had also submitted a petition seeking their disqualification. Now, both sides have withdrawn the petitions they had filed. We have submitted the withdrawal letter to the speaker of the assembly,” Velumani said.He maintained that despite internal differences after the electoral defeat, the party leadership structure remained unchanged and Edappadi K. Palaniswami continued as the AIADMK general secretary.“After the defeat, we had put forward certain views. We expressed our opinion with the belief that the AIADMK should continue to exist even a hundred years from now,” he said.Velumani also said discussions had taken place within the party regarding organisational reforms, including convening a General Council meeting and forming a committee. According to him, the party leadership had assured that the suggestions would be considered.Earlier in the day, Velumani and MLAs backing his faction met Tamil Nadu assembly speaker JCD Prabhakar at the secretariat.The Speaker later said he would examine the petitions submitted by both sides before taking a decision.“I cannot disclose the contents of the petitions given by two groups of AIADMK. I will go through the petition in detail and let you know about my decision tomorrow morning,” he said.The development follows weeks of internal turbulence within the AIADMK after the Velumani-Shanmugam faction extended support to actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government during the floor test in the assembly.The EPS camp had subsequently sought the disqualification of 25 rebel MLAs under the anti-defection law, while the rival faction had also moved petitions against the EPS side.However, reconciliation efforts appeared to gather pace after leaders from the Velumani-Shanmugam camp met EPS and submitted an apology letter to the AIADMK leadership. Almost all MLAs from the so-called rebel camp attended the meeting, except senior leader C Ve Shanmugam.The AIADMK later indicated that there would be “no more divisions” within the party, hinting at a possible truce between the rival camps.
