CHENNAI: Days after expelling five key functionaries and stripping four disqualified MLAs of their party posts, the AIADMK top brass - Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam - on Thursday continued weeding out supporters of ousted deputy general secretary T T V Dhinakaran from the party.
Issuing three joint statements in a day, both leaders approved the expulsion of 44 district-level functionaries who are supporters of Dhinakaran. Two disqualified MLAs have been divested of their party posts.
On December 25, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam had asserted that the axe would fall on all those who had betrayed the party - from primary members to headquarters office-bearers. The 35 office-bearers belonging to Madurai rural district who were expelled from AIADMK on Thursday include R Sami, a former MLA of Melur constituency. Nine functionaries from the districts - Villupuram South, Dharmapuri, The Nilgiris, Tiruchy urban and Tiruchy rural, Perambalur, Thanjavur south, Madurai urban and Theni, including K David Annadurai, son of former Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu, have also been expelled from the party.
E A Rathinasabapathy, MLA representing Arantangi Assembly constituency and functioning as Pudukottai district presidium chairman and R Balasubramanian, MLA representing Ambur constituency and functioning as Vellore West district Amma Peravai secretary have been stripped of their party posts. Balasubramanian is one of the 18 MLAs who were disqualified on September 18.
Sasikala’s vow of silence
Just as the inquiry commission into the death of late CM J Jayalaltihaa has issued notice to V K Sasikala seeking her response within a fortnight, TTV Dhinakaran, her nephew who called on her at Parappana Agrahara Prison on Thursday, told mediapersons that she was observing a ‘mouna viratam since the death anniversary of Jayalalithaa on December 5. She is likely to continue to maintain silence till January-end. “I sought the blessings of my aunt after winning the RK Nagar by-election”