AIADMK REMOVES SASIKALA FROM ALL POSTS
You (chief minister Palanisami) and others have no moral right to sit in positions of power that was once wielded by Jayalalithaa. We will send this government home. TTV DINAKARAN, Sasikala’s nephew
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK removed jailed general secretary VK Sasikala from all party posts on Tuesday and named former chief minister J Jayalalithaa “eternal general secretary”, signalling a fresh stand-off in a protracted political crisis that has roiled the southern state.
At a general council meeting in Chennai, the party removed Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran from all positions and scrapped all appointments made by them.
The AIADMK also restored all people appointed by Jayalalithaa, whose death last December triggered the crisis.The meeting also resolved to approach the Election Commission to reclaim the party’s frozen two-leaves symbol.
The party will now be run by an 11-member panel headed by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam with chief minister Edapaddi Palanisami as co-coordinator.
Minutes later, Dinakaran rejected the resolution of the meeting and said the party had no powers to remove either him or his aunt, who is in jail for corruption. “You (CM Palanisami) and others have no moral right to sit in positions of power that was once wielded by Jayalalithaa. We will send this government home,” he said.
But the drama might not be over yet. The general council meeting was attended by 114 MLAs, with 20 MLAs siding with Dinakaran staying away. This means the government will be in danger if a floor test is called in an assembly with a majority mark of 117. Senior minister D Jayakumar declared that action will be taken against those who failed to attend the meeting.
Speaker P Dhanpal has already issued notices to the dissident MLAs to explain their stand on September 14.
It is widely expected that they will be disqualified and may lose their membership.
The Dinakaran camp hit back, saying, “we will bring down the government”.
Their spokesperson CR Saraswathi said the meeting itself was illegal and all decisions taken by the “illegal general council meeting will be scrutinised by the Madras high court”.
“We have full faith in judiciary,” she said, adding that now the battle for the party control will move to the high court and above, if necessary.
However, senior AIADMK leaders are confident that all 19 MLAs with Dinakaran will gravitate towards the party and support the government as and when the times comes.