Exactly a day after Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and ADMK's Coordinator Panneerselvam signaled that he is open to accept expelled party's General Secretary VK Sasikala back into the party if she adheres to the internal democracy, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had, in an advising tone, asked his colleague not to make any statements in support of Sasikala.

Edappadi Palaniswami's advice to Panneerselvam had shown how the former is worried if Sasikala comes back to the party, which will cause an internal drift and will take over the leadership. Edappadi Palaniswami is going to face his first legislative election as the Chief Minister and he hopes to keep the button of the party's control with him to become the next party's face after Jayalalithaa. However, Panneerselvam, who once was a foe for Sasikala, changed the direction and said that the party will consider inducting Sasikala into the party if she accepts the democratic set-up of the party. 

On Tuesday, while speaking to a Tamil news agency, Panneerselvam said that the party will consider her induction if she accepts its democratic set-up. The Deputy Chief Minister said that Sasikala had served in prison for four years and the decision will be taken on the grounds of humanity. He further said, "Sasikala was surfaced with doubts after the demise of Jayalalithaa. So, even during my dharma yudham, I had demanded to set up a commission to probe Jayalalithaa's death as the doubts on Sasikala would damage her reputation". 

"I wanted the bad name to go away from her", Panneerselvam added, signaling that he doesn't have any rivalry against Sasikala and that he is ready to induct her into the party.  In a major assertion, Panneerselvam has said that he never had doubts about Sasikala since he had traveled with her and Jayalalithaa. When responding to a question that Edappadi Palaniswami is against Sasikala's entry, Panneerselvam said, "Palaniswami is a joint-coordinator and I am the coordinator of the party". His statement had drawn huge attention as it had stirred fresh political debates around the party ahead of the polls. 

Panneerselvam's statement in favor of VK Sasikala had shocked Edappadi Palaniswami and has come when Tamil Nadu is days ahead of the assembly polls and weeks after Sasikala's decision of staying off from active politics. His statement didn't catch up well with Edappadi Palaniswami's camp as the supporters of the Chief Minister have been expressing disappointment over the Deputy Chief Minister by claiming that Edappadi Palaniswami has been displaying that he has become the party's face after Jayalalithaa and he had asserted multiple times that the party will not welcome back Sasikala.

Amid stirring fresh dispute, the contradiction from Panneerselvam on inducting her into the party has come as his bid towards not losing the votes from her community in the upcoming polls, the political observers say. The reports highlight that the supporters of Sasikala and the members of her Thevar community would possibly vote against the ADMK for going against her. 

Thevar community is one of the major voter bases for ADMK and it's pivotal for the party to emerge strongly in some of the areas in Southern Tamil Nadu. Panneerselvam belongs to the Thevar community and the votes from this community are crucial for him to win the upcoming polls and with the view of that, he had gathered the courage to divulge that he is ready to consider Sasikala's entry into the party. 

As Panneerselvam had expressed that the party's gate is still open for VK Sasikala, Edappadi Palaniswami has on Wednesday requested Panneerselvam to avoid making statements supportive of VK Sasikala. According to reports, Edappadi Palaniswami had met Panneerselvam at a private hotel in Salem in the middle of the campaign trail and urged him not to make statements in favor of Sasikala that could collapse the ADMK party from emerging victorious in the polls. 

The advice from the Chief Minister to his Deputy had implied that they still find it difficult in taking a firm decision of the party. It has fueled the intra-party dispute that was triggered by the dual leadership and though they display that the party is united, the top two leaders are going through friction behind the screens. The ADMK leaders are becoming familiar with the disputes and amid the ongoing friction, they have been bracing up the predictions from the pre-poll surveys which had said that ADMK will be pushed to face a major setback in the upcoming polls and several surveys had revealed that DMK will win the polls in a clear majority.