Sasikala banners removed from party office, OPS camp ‘happy’
Party workers pulled down posters and cutouts of AIADMK (Amma) general secretary VK Sasikala at its headquarters in Chennai on Wednesday, hours after her nephew and the faction’s deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran was arrested, indicating the shape of things to come for the beleaguered ruling faction.
Dinakaran was arrested by Delhi Police on Tuesday night over allegations that he paid a bribe to a middleman to secure the disputed two-leaves party symbol for his faction. He was arrested along with his aide Mallikarjun after three days of questioning at the Chanakyapuri crime branch office.
The dispute over the symbol erupted after the AIADMK split into Sasikala-led AIADMK (Amma) and former chief minister O Panneerselvam’s AIADMK (Puratatchi Thalaivi Amma) following the death of party supremo and then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The rival camp is now led by chief minister Edapaddi Palaniswami, a Sasikala loyalist.
The Panneerselvam camp has stuck to its demands of the expulsion of Sasikala, Dinakaran and other family members from the AIADMK and a CBI probe into the death of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa as pre-conditions for talks.
CV Shanmugam, a state minister however said that “we did not remove the posters because someone has asked us. We did it on our own after the district secretaries meeting on Tuesday.”
“Now that Dinakaran has been arrested and his aunt Sasikala is serving a sentence, slowly the EPS camp is realising the altered ground situation and might be more eager to commence merger talks,” a senior leader from the Panneerselvam camp told HT on Wednesday.
Dinakaran and his aide’s arrest sent shockwaves in the ruling faction with the prospect of more names tumbling out.
According to sources, both sides were continuing backchannel talks but Dinakaran’s arrest is expected to accelerate the matter, especially as the opposition DMK has begun amassing allies and preparing for any eventualities.
The tone and tenor of the AIADMK (Amma) district office bearers meeting for the second day on Wednesday is expected to change as the leaders are likely to impress upon the cadres the need to maintain unity, a euphemism for distancing themselves from Sasikala’s family.
Panneerselvam’ supporters are also expected to hold a meeting and take stock of the emerging political situation after Dinakaran’s arrest.
There was a need for a law to regulate NGOs, disbursal of funds to them and consequential proceedings on account of defaults, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.
It asked the government to examine the feasibility of a legislation to tighten the noose around non-profit organisations.
The bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar took a view that the existing or proposed guidelines were not sufficient act against “unaccountable” NGOs that have been getting grants from government agencies for decades. “We are not happy with the guidelines. You must crystallise them. Those (NGOs) who are clear are clear. If not then blacklist and prosecute them,” it said. The law, it said, should not only provide for enforceable consequences but also envisage civil and criminal action.
The court suggestion came after CAPART – a registered society under the ministry of rural development – informed the bench that it had initiated criminal proceedings against 159 voluntary organisations (VOs) for misappropriation of funds.
CAPART, however, also admitted that its infrastructure was insufficient to take a meaningful action, prompting the court to talk about a legal framework.
“Position placed on record by CAPART does not reveal the entire factual position since it is only one of the 76 ministries/ agencies distributing funds,” the court noted.
Centre had on the last hearing placed the proposed guidelines before the top court, saying it would be mandatory for NGOs to register themselves with Niti Aayog - a government think tank that provides inputs for public policy.
The top court is hearing a PIL regarding non-action against NGOs that have not filed their audits.
“You cannot expect Niti Aayog to start registering NGOs, keep a tab and take action. It’s just not possible,” the bench said after perusing the guidelines.
Shocked to know that government disburses ₹950 crore every year to NGOs, the court said: “You cannot allow public funds to go waste. There is no assessment to what happened to all that money given to them (NGOs).”