The O Panneerselvam (OPS) faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIAMDK) today (1 August), held a protest all over the state along with TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) demanding swift investigation into the Kodanad estate case.

Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran were seen together at the protest in Theni.

They have accused Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) of having a role in the case.

The case relates to multiple incidents in 2017— a robbery, the murder of a security guard, deaths allegedly due to accidents and the suicide of an employee at the estate belonging to former chief minister J Jayalalitha.

Dhinakaran said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government had promised to find the culprits in ninety days but two years had passed.

AIADMK organising secretary D Jayakumar called the protests a ‘drama’. Recalling that Panneerselvam had earlier rebelled against Sasikala in what he called the ‘Dharma Yudham’, he said that this was an alliance of opportunism.

Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran had agreed to work together after a meeting in May. Panruti Ramachandran, a leader of the OPS faction had said that their cooperation would be like that of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)- CPI(M).

Political commentators have seen the move as a means to consolidate the vote of the Thevar community in favour of the grouping.

Both OPS and Dhinakaran belong to the Thevar community, which has a significant vote share in southern Tamil Nadu.

The EPS faction is also aiming to consolidate its strength in the southern districts and has announced a conference in Madurai on 20 August.

Last week, a court in Ooty adjourned the hearing in the case to 8 September, after a plea by the CBCID requesting more time as it had to investigate the call data from 19 cell phone towers.