CHENNAI: Ousted deputy general secretary of AIADMK (Amma) TTV Dhinakaran on Sunday sacked his bete noire Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami from the party post and asserted that his supporters would continue to fight forces of betrayal in the party.
As soon as he announced removal of Palaniswami from the post of AIADMK Salem Rural district secretary and appointed former MLA SK Selvam as his replacement, supporters of the Chief Minister took up the cudgels against Dhinakaran.
Two sitting MLAs--B Sakthivel and B Venkatachalam--launched a scathing attack on Dhinakaran questioning his authority to sack the Chief Minister as the post was offered by the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
However, the ousted deputy general secretary justified his action saying he was effecting the changes in the organisation with the consent of party general secretary VK Sasikala who granted him a ‘blanket permission’ to go about whatever deemed to be helpful for protecting the organisation. Upping the ante, he said that sacrifice by his jailed aunt Sasikala, would triumph over betrayal.
“We are not roaming for positions. And not committing betrayal. We have no intention of pulling down the government. But, in the fight between sacrifice and betrayal, the sacrifice by general secretary (Sasikala) will win,” he told reporters at Theni.
Meanwhile, the strength of MLAs supporting Dhinakaran surged to 23 on Sunday with one more MLA, Chandraprabha, representing Srivilliputhur, joining his faction. The legislators staying in Puducherry are expected to continue their sojourn in the Union Territory for a longer period as suggested by the former minister V Senthil Balaji. He said, “Our journey will continue until our goals are achieved.”