AIADMK to decide Sasikala’s fate at general council meet

Amid the rebellion by 23 MLAs loyal to its sidelined deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran, the AIADMK at a meeting on Monday decided to convene the party’s general council, where a decision to remove jailed party general secretary V K Sasikala from the post could be taken.

The meeting was chaired by O Panneerselvam, deputy chief minister who is also the convenor of the 11-member AIADMK panel and chief minister Edapadi Palanisami who is the co-convenor of the panel.

The meeting also declared that the appointment of Dinakaran as the party’s deputy chief was invalid. And consequently, none of his decisions – appointing office bearers or sacking existing ones will be valid. The meeting was attended by AIADMK MLAs and MPs.

AIADMK sources maintained that though none of the four resolutions adopted at the meeting mentioned Sasikala’s removal, the very fact that general council meeting is being convened was indication that her days are numbered.

S Muthukaruppan, AIADMK MP said the exact date of the general council meeting would be decided soon.

A senior AIADMK leader told reporters that “she will certainly be ousted”.

“So far the election commission has not acknowledged the appointment of Sasikala as general secretary and hence the appointment of Dinakaran as deputy general secretary is also not valid,” one of the resolutions said. Hence, all the appointments made by Dinakaran are also not valid.

Observers feel that Dinarkaran’s rebellion may have forced the party not to expel Sasikala for now. According to unconfirmed reports, other than the rebels, many MLAs were also missing from the meeting which may have unnerved the government.