Even as Muslims in Tamil Nadu celebrated Eid with fervour and gusto, the Sasikala faction of the AIADMK, known as AIADMK (Amma) saw intra-factional feud reaching a crescendo with leaders owing allegiance to the jailed general secretary VK Sasikala and Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy fighting it out in the open. On his part Palaniswamy started asserting himself after his recent visit to the national Capital to inform the BJP leadership about his party’s support to Ram Nath Kovind, the presidential candidate.

By Sunday, posters or pictures of Sasikala were not to be seen anywhere in Chennai city as Chief Minister Palanisway travelled from his Greenways Road residence to Poroor, a city suburb to inaugurate a flyover.

The larger than life posters printed in connection with the inauguration of the flyover had featured only the pictures of Jayalalithaa and Palaniswamy. Not a single poster featuring Sasikala or Dinakaran was to be seen anywhere in the Chief Minister’s route, something hitherto unheard in the AIADMK. This is a clear signal that the aunt-nephew duo and their family members are persona non grata in the party.

Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran retaliated on Monday  with the help of their die-hard loyalists who asked Palaniswamy to tame some of the Ministers and party leaders who question the authority of the aunt-nephew duo.

“Thambi Durai, deputy speaker of the lok Sabha called on Sasikala to pass on a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the AIADMK’s support for Ram Nath Kovind in the Presidential election. The Delhi leaders know who is in charge of the AIADMK,” said P Vetrivel, MlA, who is a trusted loyalist of Dinakaran.

Speaking to reporters at Chennai on Monday, Vetrivel said he would spill all beans if Palaniswamy failed to restrain some of the Ministers in his Cabinet from questioning the authority of Sasikala.

Meanwhile Rajendra Balaji, Minister for Dairy Development, lambasted Vaigai Selvan, party spokesman who is also close to the Sasikala family, for acting as a front man for private dairy company owners.

Speaking to reporters at Virudhunagar on Monday, Balaji alleged that Selvan was acting as an aide to private dairy companies indulged in milk adulteration. “People like Vaigai Selvan are helping private milk manufacturing companies in adulteration. Most of the milk samples collected from private dairy companies were found to be adulterated,” charged the minister. He also alleged that Selvan, who had contested the 2011 assembly election won by paying voters tokens worth Rs 3,000/.

A political commentator said the photo gallery featuring Jayalalithaa in the State Secretariat would soon be replaced with that of Palaniswamy. Orders have been placed with printers for printing nearly a lakh posters of Palaniswamy to be displayed all over Tamil Nadu in the coming days. The fight between O Panneerselvam and Sasikala for the control of the AIADMK has been eclipsed by the shadow boxing between EPS and Sasikala camps.