CHENNAI: Dismissing allegations that the AIADMK is being turned into a family enterprise like its arch-rival DMK, party’s newly-appointed deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran said no single family had ever been allowed to dominate the party.
“It will remain so in the future, too,” Dinakaran told the media at party headquarters on Thursday, after formally taking charge as the de facto leader in the absence of his aunt VK Sasikala, the AIADMK’s interim general secretary.
Dinakaran and another member of the family, Dr S Venkatesh, were readmitted into the party hours before Sasikala left for Bengaluru after the Supreme Court confirmed the four-year jail term awarded in the disproportionate assets case. This had led to criticism within the party and outside.
In an effort to clear the air, Dinakaran, recalling his time in the party right from the post-MGR days, narrated how Jayalalithaa made him an MP and how he went on to become the party treasurer — all with her blessings. “When Jayalalithaa asked me to remain quiet, I stayed away from party affairs like a loyal soldier. Now, I have been taken back as several party leaders persuaded Sasikala to do so,” he said.
Replying to a question on whether he was going to contest the bypoll in RK Nagar, which fell vacant after Jaya’s death, Dinakaran said only the party would decide the candidate.
Emerging victorious —though weakened — after the internal fight for power with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Dinakaran termed as a mere outbursts of frustration DMK working president MK Stalin’s visit to Delhi on Thursday and the protest on Wednesday.
Dinakaran maintained that AIADMK was always ready to embrace those who had strayed away. However, referring to the OPS camp’s move to launch a statewide campaign against Sasikala’s family rule, he said the treachery of a few would not affect the AIADMK.