AIADMK cracks whip against Dhinakaran supporters
CHENNAI: The ruling AIADMK on Thursday continued to crack the whip against supporters of rival leader TTV Dhinakaran post its RK Nagar bypoll defeat, expelling 44 of them and relieving two others from party posts.
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and cocoordinator K Palaniswami announced “removing” 44 functionaries from the party’s primary membership.
Those who faced the action included R Samy, a former MLA from Melur in Madurai and a staunch supporter of Dhinakaran.
In a joint statement, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami named the functionaries, holding various posts including membership to the pow- erful decision making General Council and covering the AIADMK units in Madurai, Villupuram, Dharmapuri, Tiruchirappalli and Perambalur among others.
They were being “removed” since they went against the party’s principles and brought “disrepute” to the AIADMK, the two leaders said in the statement.
“Party workers are requested not to have any truck with them,” Palaniswami, also the Chief Minister, and his deputy Panneerselvam, said in the statement.
Further, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami “relieved” two others from party posts in Puthukottai and Vellore districts.
Stung by the R K Nagar bypoll defeat, the ruling AIADMK on December 25 cracked the whip against nine party functionaries.
The two leaders had then sacked four of Dhinakaran’s aides as district secretaries, while expelling five others.
In a jolt to the ruling camp, Dhinakaran had won the December 21 RK Nagar bypoll against its candidate E Madhusudhanan by a thumping margin of 40,000 votes.
The bypoll, necessitated due to the death of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was the sitting MLA, was seen as a litmus test for the 20-month-old AIADMK government.
Dhinakaran, sidelined by the ruling camp a few months ago, had won as an independent candidate. MALKANGIRI: A Maoist, who was among the 12 arrested by Malakangiri district police on Wednesday, allegedly committed suicide at the district police barrack here on Thursday.
The Maoist, who hails from Chandraguda village of the district, had reportedly hanged himself inside the latrine of the police barrack, superintendent of police Jagmohan Meena said.
When the arrested Maoists were boarding a police vehicle to travel to the court, where they were scheduled to be produced, the man went to the toilet. Some time later his body was found hanging in the toilet, the SP said. An officer of the rank of a deputy superintendent of police of the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) has been asked to probe the incident.