(Eds: Corrections in intro, para 2)Chennai, Dec 29 (PTI) Sidelined AIADMK leader T T VDhinakaran today took oath as a member of the Tamil Naduassembly days after he won the by-election to the RK Nagarconstituency represented by late chief minister Jayalalithaa.
The newly-elected MLA was administered oath by Speaker PDhanapal in his office here after the former arrived there toa rousing reception by his supporters who lined up all alongthe route from his residence.
The supporters threw flower petals at the vehicle ofDhinakaran even as they raised slogans hailing "TTV annan"(elder brother) and his recent win.
Some of them also presented him shawls and bouquets as hehalted his vehicle at several places along the arterialKamarajar road off the famous Marina Beach leading to FortSt.George, housing the assembly and the state secretariat.
Standing in the vehicle through the sun-roof for sometime,the newly elected MLA waved to his supporters and also showedthe victory sign of thumbs up.
After the oath, Dhanapal shook hands with Dhinakaran, whohas been sidelined by the ruling camp of the AIADMK along withhis aunt and jailed leader Sasikala.
The sidelined leader later claimed that the Palaniswamigovernment will not last beyond "three to four months".
The ruling camp brushed aside his claim with Deputy chiefminister O Panneerselvam saying he can't be replying to "thosewho are in dreamland." A battery of Dhinakaran's supporters, including key aidesand disqualified MLAs P Vetrivel and Thangatamilselvan, werepresent at the oath-taking ceremony.
Aranthangi MLA E A Rathinasabapathy was also present. Hehad joined the Dhinakaran camp after 18 AIADMK legislatorsloyal to the sidelined leader were disqualified in September.
Contesting the December 21 bypoll as an independent,Dhinakaran defeated AIADMK's E Madhusudhanan by a thumpingmargin of 40,707 votes, dealing a blow to the ruling campheaded by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
The bypoll was held to fill the vacancy caused by death ofthen sitting member Jayalalithaa on December 5 last year.
The ruling camp has attributed Dhinakaran's victory to a"tacit understanding" between him and principal oppositionDMK, whose candidate N Maruthu Ganesh finished a poor thirdand lost deposit in the bypoll.
Dhinakaran, who has vowed to oust the Palainiswamigovernment for betraying Sasikala, will make his legislaturedebut next month when the assembly meets on January 8 for itsfirst session of 2018 with the customary Governor's address.
Dhinakaran is a former MP, having represented AIADMK inboth houses of Parliament between 1999 and 2010.
He was made party deputy general secretary by Sasikalaahead of going to the Bengaluru prison after the Supreme Courtconvicted her in a corruption case in February last.
Speaking to reporters after taking oath as MLA,Dhinakaran urged the top "5-6" persons in the ruling camp to"step away as an atonement of your mistakes" and allowcontinuation of "Amma (Jayalalithaa) rule." The RK Nagar verdict has shown "we are the true AIADMK,working under the aegis of Chinnamma and in the lines of Ammaand Puratchi Thalaivar MGR (party founder, the late MGRamachandran)," he said.
Sasikala, serving a four year jail term in Bengaluru inthe Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case, is addressedas 'Chinnamma' by her supporters.
Dhinakaran has been accusing the rival camp of "betrayal,"in an apparent reference to the revolt against Sasikala byPanneerselvam and Palaniswami patching up with him later.
Palaniswami was handpicked by Sasikala to lead the stateafter she was convicted in the assets case.
"Be it the Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister or fourothers (senior Ministers)---their conscience knows howChinnamma or TTV had helped them on different occasions. They(rival camp leaders) have come to a dead end. If they don'tchange they will vanish from politics," he claimed.
Without naming any Minister, he said people would makethem change if they did not do so on their own.
He said the ruling dispensation should ponder over thebypoll verdict and a "self-assessment" would reveal "betrayalhas been given a reply," by the voters.
He also claimed many on the ruling side "are with usmentally though not physically... Many have started comingtowards us." Expressing hope of a favourable court verdict on the pleasagainst disqualification of 18 MLAs, he said that in such ascenario the Palaniswami government could face a trust vote.
"During voting our sleeper cells will do their job," he said.
He has been claiming his "sleeper cells" were embedded inthe ruling camp and would be 'activated' at appropriate time.
Dhinakaran also chided the ruling camp for expelling hissupporters in the wake of the RK Nagar bypoll defeat, saying"people are laughing at these expulsions." Earlier in the day, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami crackedthe whip on 132 pro-Dhinakaran functionaries in AIADMK,expelling them from the party for bringing "disrepute" to it.
They had yesterday sacked 44 persons, besides five otherson Monday. Key Dhinakaran aides including Vetrivel andThangatamilselvan had been removed as party districtsecretaries. PTI SA VSSMN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.