After Friday’s marathon meetings, the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK decided to seal the merger deal with the ruling faction, headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, with the announcement scheduled for Monday. The decision was taken amid a continued standoff between leaders within the AIADMK rival factions and the huge pressure from the BJP at the Centre to make the merger official before August 22. According to top sources in both rival AIADMK factions and the BJP, the merger will be announced on Monday, a day before the scheduled visit of BJP president Amit Shah.

After Friday’s marathon meetings, the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK decided to seal the merger deal with the ruling faction, headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, with the announcement scheduled for Monday. The decision was taken amid a continued standoff between leaders within the AIADMK rival factions and the huge pressure from the BJP at the Centre to make the merger official before August 22. According to top sources in both rival AIADMK factions and the BJP, the merger will be announced on Monday, a day before the scheduled visit of BJP president Amit Shah.