The O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK has stepped up its demand for a CBI probe into J Jayalalithaas death, in the wake of its first victory demanding VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran's exit from the AIADMK. Even as talks of unification between the OPS faction and the E Palaniswami faction are on, OPS has stated that there can be no merger if this demand is not met.

TTV Dinakarans announcement to step aside, after the majority group within the Sasikala camp decided to keep her family away from party affairs has set the stage for the merger.

The single major issue between the two groups had been O Panneerselvams insistence that no one from the Sasikala family should have anything to do with the party affairs.

While a number of ministers and MLAs from the Sasikala faction had come around to the view that both Sasikala and Dinakaran needed to be eased out of the party, they were still divided on how to go about achieving it.

OPS has maintained that not once were they allowed to see Jayalalithaa in hospital though they had stayed put at the hospital all along. The Sasikala camp did not even listen to suggestions that Jayalalithaa should be taken to the UK or the US for treatment, OPS had claimed.