Dhinakaran strikes again, puts loyalists in party posts
Seeking to assert his authority, sidelined AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Wednesday axed four ministers from party posts while 18 MLAs loyal to him stayed put in a Puducherry resort, a day after they revolted against the K. Palaniswami government threatening its survival.
The Congress, meanwhile, pitched for a floor test in the Assembly, a day after its ally DMK made a similar demand, claiming 22 AIADMK MLAs had submitted letters to Governor Vidayasagar Rao expressing lack of confidence in Chief
Minister E.K. Palaniswami. In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs.
On Wednesday, Dhinakaran sacked four ministers — R.B. Uthayakumar, K.C. Veeramani, M.R. Vijayabaskar and R. Kamaraj — from their party posts. Dhinakaran announced the appointments of his aides to these posts. He also relieved the district secretaries of Chennai (South), Kancheepuram, Thiruvallore (West) and Pudukottai of their duties. All the appointments were made with the “approval” of Sasikala, Dhinakaran claimed. Rallying behind jailed party chief V.K. Sasikala, her brother Divakaran claimed the Palaniswami ministry had “lost majority” and sought his resignation. “Such a government cannot continue. Palaniswami has to resign,” he told reporters. Divakaran had on Tuesday floated the name of Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal, a Dalit, to replace Palaniswami.
Both Palaniswami and Panneerselvam seemed undeterred by the developments. They are attending the centenary celebrations of AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran in Ariyalur.
A day after meeting the Governor, the MLAs supporting Dhinakaran, stayed put at a private resort in neighbouring Puducherry. They largely remained indoors.
NEW DELHI:Two FIRs have been filed against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi minister Imran Hussain for allegedly asking for votes in the name of religion in the capital, police said on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner of Police Rishi Pal said that the FIRs were filed on Tuesday evening based on complaints by the Returning Officer for Bawana in north-west Delhi, which went to the polls on Wednesday.