The AIADMK headquarters witnessed some chaotic scenes on Wednesday afternoon, with the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa’s husband being attacked allegedly by partymen.
Trouble began after Ms. Pushpa’s husband and a few others went to the AIADMK party headquarters at Royapettah to file nomination for the post of General Secretary of the party. The AIADMK General Council meeting is scheduled to be held at Vanagaram on Thursday, where it is widely believed that V.K. Sasikala would be elected General Secretary as per the wishes of the partymen.
Almost all district units have passed resolutions requesting V.K. Sasikala to take over as General Secretary of the party. The General Council meeting is expected to formalise these requests.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Ms. Pushpa said her husband was last seen being taken away by police personnel, but she could not ascertain his whereabouts.
“My husband Lingeshwar Thilagam had gone to the AIADMK party headquarters to file nomination for the post of general secretary. When I saw the visuals on television, I saw my husband bleeding and being taken away by police personnel,” she said.
Ms. Pushpa said she contacted police officials through lawyers, but police personnel said they did not know about his whereabouts. “I spoke to ADGP, Law and Order, Mr. Tripathi, and the police commissioner’s office but they told me they did not have any information,” she alleged.
The rebel MP also claimed that the Tamil Nadu police would be responsible if anything untoward happened to her husband.
However, AIADMK officials said trouble started after Mr. Thilagam and ten others who came to the party headquarters refused to leave and started talking ill of V.K. Sasikala.
“Why should they come to the party office when they are no longer in the party? Amma (Jayalalithaa) had expelled her from the party. She is not even a member of the AIADMK. Amma only made her a Member of Parliament, yet she spoke ill of our leader in Parliament. She was removed from the party by our leader,” C. R. Saraswathi, party spokesperson told The Hindu.
Ms. Saraswathi said they did not leave the headquarters despite requests from partymen and the police. “Trouble began when they started bad mouthing Ms. V.K. Sasikala. The MP just wants to create trouble. She is creating an unnecessary scene and wants to create a law and order problem,” she said.
The AIADMK has filed a complaint with the Royapettah police against Ms. Pushpa’s husband for creating law and order problem and inciting violence, Ms. Saraswathi said. It is not immediately clear if Ms. Pushpa’s husband has filed a complaint. Police officials and Ms. Pushpa were not available for comment.
PTI adds...
Anandraj quits party
Senior party leader and actor Anandraj has quit the party.
Mr. Anandaraj said he had no personal enmity with anyone in the AIADMK but regretted the ‘misuse’ of Jayalalithaa’s name by some in the party and in the government.
Without naming anyone, he said nobody should be compared with Jayalalithaa.
“In the present situation, even a government officer is using Amma’s name,” he said, in an apparent reference to former Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, who is under Income Tax scanner, and frequently invoked her name on Tuesday while defending himself at a press meet.
“Don’t demean the soul of Amma by invoking her name. Don’t misuse her name. Anybody is able to use her name. Please respect her,” Mr. Anandaraj said.
