For the first time in the history of the AIADMK, three MlAs, who were elevated to important positions in the party on Friday by party’s deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran, refused to accept the posts in an open defiance to general secretary of the party VK Sasikala.
In a major development, Finance Minister K Jayakumar declared on Saturday that the AIADMK has no general secretary and hence Dinakaran has no authority to appoint any office-bearers.
On Friday, Dinakaran appointed 60 new office-bearers for the party which included 20 sitting MlAs. He declared that the office-bearers were being appointed as per the directions of Sasikala, who is undergoing imprisonment in a Karnataka jail in connection with the Disproportionate Asset case.
However, three MlAs — Sathya Panneerselvam, K Palani and AK Bose — declared on Saturday that they would not accept the posts. “Dinakaran is nobody to appoint us to these posts.
As on today, the AIADMK has no general secretary and he has no authority to take any decision for and on behalf of the general secretary,” said Sathya Panneerselvam, who had been appointed as the joint secretary of the women’s wing.
Immediately after the announcement by Panneerselvam that she would not take up the post offered to her, Minister RT Udayakumar declared that all announcements made by Dinakaran were null and void. “We have received communication from the Election Commission of India that the issue of general secretary of the AIADMK is being heard by the Commission and hence the party has no general secretary now. Since there is no general secretary, Dinakaran has no locus standi to function as deputy general secretary,” said Udayakumar, known previously as a close confidante of the Sasikala camp. It was Udayakumar who first demanded that Sasikala should become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after her appointment as general secretary on December 29, 2016. This demand snowballed into a controversy and then Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was eased out of the office resulting in the party becoming two pieces.
With the Udayakumar’s declaration, which got instant support from Finance Minister K Jayakumar, the ruling faction of the AIADMK, known as AIADMK (Amma) too has split vertically. Dinakaran, who claims that he is the boss of the party in the absence of Sasikala, has become persona non grata in the AIADMK headquarters which is under the control of Chief Minister Edappady K Palaniswamy. Dinakaran has not entered the head quarters since April 26, the day when party activists dumped his and Sasikala’s photographs and posters from both inside and outside the head quarters.
Saturday’s events are being seen as a prelude to the ouster of the Sasikala clan from the party by the faction headed by Palaniswamy. This is one of the demands put forward by the Panneerselvam faction for a merger with the AIADMK (Amma).
Though reporters asked him on Friday about his plans to visit the AIADMK headquarters, Dinakaran said he would visit the office as and when he feels like doing so. Meanwhile, security has been strengthened around the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai by deploying more cops.
Tamil Nadu could witness colourful pyrotechnics with lot of sound and fury in the coming days as the fight for the control of the AIADMK intensifies between Palaniswamy and Sasikala groups.