Dinakaran to Run Party on Sasi’s Behalf
CHENNAI: The establishment’s fight against the AIADMK rebels will be led by the newly-appointed deputy general secretary, TTV Dinakaran, the de facto head in absence of imprisoned V K Sasikala.
It was Dinakaran, who gave a leg-up to the political career of O Panneerselvam in 1999 when he brought him to J Jayalalithaa’s notice. Now, nearly two decades later, the two stand face-to-face, leading two different factions.
While contesting the Lok Sabha election from Periyakulam seat in 1999, Dinakaran noticed OPS, then chairman of the municipality.
Dinakaran introduced him to Sasikala, who helped him secure an Assembly ticket for the 2001 poll, and get chosen as an unlikely alternative to Jaya when she had to step down in 2001. When Dinakaran lost Jaya’s trust, OPS replaced him as party treasurer.
Till now, OPS addresses him as ‘Dinakaran sir’—a salutation unlikely to last now. Dinakaran, 53, son of Sasikala’s sister Vanithamani, came to Chennai in the early 1980s and managed Vinod Video Service in Alwarpet, run by Sasikala. The turning point came after M G Ramachandran’s death.
Dinakaran, along with Sasikala’s brother V K Divakaran, used to organise Jaya’s public meetings and campaigns for the 1989 elections.
On December 19, 2011, Jayalalithaa expelled Sasikala and her relatives, including Dinakaran, from the party. Though later she re-admitted Sasikala, all others were kept away from Poes Garden and the AIADMK till her death. But soon after Jaya’s death, Dinakaran, Divakaran and others returned to Poes Garden. Dinakaran sat next to Sasikala when she met Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to stake her claim to form the government.