In what has become a major divulgence ahead of the crucial Tamil Nadu assembly polls, ADMK Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam signaled that he will go soft hand on expelled ADMK's General Secretary VK Sasikala as he has said that her induction into the party would be considered if she is ready to accept and adhere to the democratic set-up of the party. 

His statement has come weeks after Sasikala's decision of staying off from active politics and when his peer Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami apparently asserting that Sasikala's entry into the party is not possible and she won't be entertained in the party. 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. 

Panneerselvam was giving an interview to a Tamil news channel on Tuesday, which has become his first one-on-one interview since he took over the post. Responding to a question over VK Sasikala, 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. 

Ironically, Panneerselvam had also changed the course of why he had unfolded 'Dharma Yutham' after the demise of then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaa had died in December 2016 and when VK Sasikala neared to take over the post of Chief Minister, Panneerselvam, who had resigned from the post after serving for days time, sat at Jayalalithaa's burial place and launched Dharma Yutham against the elevation of VK Sasikala, which revolted and drifted the party into two factions. 

Now, after Sasikala's release from the prison and days ahead of the polls, Panneerselvam had switched the theme and claimed that he had demanded to set up a commission into Jayalalithaa's death to clear bad name on Sasikala. During the interview, he 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 on 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. 

According to reports, Panneerselvam's statement in favor of Sasikala 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. The statement had sparked a dispute between both the leaders at a high time when they had to travel together as one in the assembly polls. 

The political observers say that Edappadi Palaniswami has been mulling to keep the party under his control without any intervention from VK Sasikala and her family. However, Panneerselvam had admitted that the gate is still open for Sasikala and he doesn't have any dissatisfaction with her. His statement has come as his bid to save the party's grounds in southern Tamil Nadu. 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. 

Panneerselvam is going to contest in the Bodinayakanur constituency in Theni district and this constituency has a large voter base of Thevar community and he had now gone in favor of Sasikala to cultivate the votes from the Thevar community as every vote is important for Panneerselvam because he is going to take on DMK's Thanga Tamil Selvan, who had a strong rivalry against Panneerselvam. Thanga Tamil Selvan was in the ADMK and he recently joined the DMK and now got the ticket and task to defeat Panneerselvam. It must be noted that Tamil Nadu will go to the single-phase poll on April 6 and the votes will be counted on May 2, during which the results will be announced.