Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani on Sunday said that dissident AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran should withdraw from the party, taking a cue from former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran’s widow Janaki, who stepped aside in 1989 after losing the Assembly elections then.
Interacting with journalists in Coimbatore, Mr. Velumani recalled that the AIADMK witnessed a split after the death of its founder MGR, with his widow Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa leading opposing factions. However, after the Janaki faction suffered a rout in the 1989 Assembly elections, she withdrew from politics, facilitating the unification of the two factions under Jayalalithaa’s leadership. Likewise, Mr. Dhinakaran should now withdraw from politics, as Chief Minster Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam have secured control of the AIADMK and its ‘two leaves’ symbol.
It would be better for the supporters of Mr. Dhinakaran to meet Mr. Palaniswami or Mr. Panneerselvam and express solidarity with them, the Minister said.
‘No violation of rules’
When asked about the allegation that the AIADMK had illegally put up arches and hoardings in Coimbatore ahead of the MGR birth centenary celebrations, he claimed that no rules were violated, and that it was wrong on the part of the Corporation Commissioner to suggest otherwise.
Hits out at DMK MLA
He accused the DMK MLA from Singanallur, N. Karthik, of misleading the people on the death of two-wheeler rider K. Raghupathy, who was killed in an accident on Avinashi Road on Friday night.
“By blaming the erection of hoardings [for the fatal mishap], he is trying to protect the lorry driver, who drove the vehicle on the wrong side,” Mr. Velumani said, adding that if the DMK MLA were to spread canards, he would not hesitate to take him to court.
