Following the late Tuesday night arrest of TTV Dinakaran, the deputy general secretary of the AIADMK (Amma) faction by the Delhi Police in connection with the attempt to bribe Election Commission of India officials, stage is set for the ouster of VK Sasikala, the jailed general secretary of the faction and Dinakaran from the primary membership of the AIADMK.
Wednesday morning saw party activists tearing apart the larger than life size posters and banners of Sasikala and her nephew Dinakaran from the party headquarters in Chennai. The Panneerselvam faction of the party welcomed the removal of the posters and banners bearing the pictures of the aunt-nephew duo and said this would hasten the process of unification.
Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, the party cadres are seething with anger at the ‘disgrace the duo has brought to the party and the legacy of Jayalalithaa,’ according to a party senior. Since last Tuesday, not a single leader belonging to the AIADMK (Amma) faction has come out in support of Sasikala and Dinakaran. The sobriquets ‘Chinnamma’ and ‘Annan’ denoting the aunt and nephew are conspicuous by their absence from the political discourse in the AIADMK.
“We welcome the action of the party cadre tearing down the posters of Sasikala and Dinakaran. This would hasten the process of unification between the two factions,” said KP Munusamy, the spokesman of the OPS faction while speaking to reporters at Chennai on Wednesday. Munusamy has toned down his criticism of the other faction and said the differences of opinion between the two groups as something natural in any families between brothers and sisters.
Sources in the AIADMK (Amma) faction said the photographs of Sasikala which had adorned the walls of the party headquarters in Chennai too have been removed. “This is in response to the demand made by E Madhusoodanan, the presidium chairman,” said Munusamy.
Political commentators are of the view that the AIADMK could be salvaged by ousting the aunt and nephew from the party. “The Amma faction should speed up and declare the ouster of the Mannargudi clan from the party at the earliest,” said V Anbazhagan, veteran scribe and commentator.
According to sources in both the factions, informal talks have begun between them for the merger. Tuesday’s State-wide bandh and general strike by the DMK and allies has alerted the AIADMK leadership about the resentment brewing up among the people against the Government.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy on Wednesday declared that the recommendations made by the pay commission to hike the salaries of Government employees have been accepted and they would be paid arrears with effect from January 1, 2017.