Sasikala, nephew won’t return to AIADMK: Minister

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Monday ruled out the return of VK Sasikala and her nephew, TTV Dhinakaran, to the party while showing the willingness to re-induct the 18 lawmakers disqualified for supporting them.

Sasikala, who took over the AIADMK’s reins after CM Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, was sacked from the party six months after she was convicted of corruption and jailed for four years in February 2017. The lawmakers were disqualified last year under anti-defection law.

“Not today, not tomorrow and not even in the future... Sasikala, Dhinakaran and their relatives will not be taken back,” Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar told journalists. Jayakumar’s statement came a day after Dhinakaran’s aide , Thanga Tamilselvan, said the BJP was trying to unite AIADMK’s factions ahead of the 2019 national elections.