Dhinakaran faction moves EC against Sasikala ouster

SASI REMOVAL

Members of the AIADMK faction, led by ousted leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India to declare the party’s general council meeting, in which V.K. Sasikala was removed as general secretary, as invalid.

A memorandum containing the party laws, figures and facts has been submitted to the poll body to back the claim, AIADMK Rajya Sabha member Vijila Sathyananth told the media after meeting the EC officials.

On Tuesday, the merged factions of the AIADMK, under Edappadi Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam, declared late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa as the party’s permanent general secretary and declared as null and void the appointment of Ms Sasikala as the interim general secretary.

Ms Sathyanath said the meeting and decisions taken in it can’t be considered

as valid as the Madras high court verdict said that any decisions taken in the meeting will be subject to the final outcome in the appeal.

A single judge of the Madras HC dismissed the plea of the Dhinakaran faction for a stay on the general council meeting. Following this, they approached the division bench, which, too, refused to interfere with the former’s conclusion.

The representatives, who met the EC on Thursday, also included MPs Vasanthi Murugesan, N. Gokula Krishnan and B. Senguttuvan. They said a general council meeting would be convened by ousted party deputy general secretary Mr Dhinakaran with the permission of Ms Sasikala.

AIADMK faction asked the poll panel to declare Sasikala ouster by opposite faction as ‘invalid’