CHENNAI: At a time when the two major factions of the AIADMK are trying to sort out their differences, expelled general secretary T T V Dhinakaran is gearing up for a show of strength at a public meeting in Madurai on Monday.
On Thursday last, Dhinakaran was shown the door through a resolution adopted by the ruling faction led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. The resolution came after he poked the chief minister by unilaterally appointing 60 office-bearers to the party, including 20 legislators. Dhinakaran’s aggro gave Palaniswami a handle to put him in place and send a message to the O Panneerselvam camp that he has reached a milestone in their mutual quest for the merger.
A few months ago, Panneerselvam too had gone on a mass contact programme and drawn decent crowds.
The Dhinakaran group hopes to exploit the confusion in a section of the cadre and get them to their side. “The party has been dormant for the past one year. The cadre seem to be in a state of inaction. So we want to awaken them by holding public meetings,” claimed legislator Thanga Tamilselvam, a staunch supporter of Dhinakaran.
R Samy, former MLA, who is heading the organising committee of the meeting to commemorate party founder M G Ramachandran’s (MGR) birth centenary, said the Madurai meeting would be a show of strength.
“They (EPS faction) are holding the MGR centenary as a government programme. We are holding it on behalf of the party. The meeting will surely be a turning point,” he said.
Dhinakaran is scheduled to address similar events in north Chennai on August 23 and Theni on August 29.