Personal attacks and veiled threats against each other by AIADMK leaders belonging to various factions of the ruling party have become the order of the day as they go about teasing each others’ ego in public and in their comments to the media, amid speculation about a possible confrontation between the factions in the party head office soon.
On Wednesday, AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary and ‘sidelined’ leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran declared that he would visit the party head office on Avvai Shanmugam Salai soon. Only on Tuesday, the faction led by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami held a meeting there, in a bid to consolidate support within the party.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up around the party head office, with only a few days to go until the 60-day deadline set by Mr. Dhinakaran for the merger. “I will definitely go to the party head office. I will tell you all when I will go,” Mr. Dhinakaran told mediapersons. When asked about the security measures, Mr. Dhinakaran said, “None can stop the deputy general secretary from entering the party head office.”
In a related development, Mr. Dhinakaran’s supporter and MLA P. Vetrivel hit out at Finance Minister D. Jayakumar, who has been briefing journalists on behalf of the Chief Minister that he would lose his posts in the party and the government for speaking out against Mr. Dhinakaran.
In his defence, a visibly agitated Mr. Jayakumar said: “He [Mr. Vetrivel] came (to the AIADMK) from the Congress and doesn’t know a thing about our party and movement. We have been to jail eight times since 1982 and have been faithful to Amma (Jayalalithaa). It is we who have all the rights over the party. So, any attempt to spread the Congress culture will never succeed.”
Dhinakaran’s claim
Speaking to mediapersons after visiting his aunt Sasikala at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, Mr. Dhinakaran said he was not interested in commenting on the statements made by Mr. Jayakumar. He claimed he had the support of 122 MLAs of the AIADMK. “I don’t know about the stand of Arukutty, who has come here recently,” he said.
When asked about the functioning of the government led by Mr. Palaniswami, Mr. Dhinakaran said he would give his comments in detail at a public meeting soon. He also dismissed reports of his differences with his relative Divakaran.
“We are going to file a case against former DIG (Prisons) D. Roopa for making allegations of corruption,” he said. Ms. Roopa had submitted a report alleging that money had changed hands to ensure that Sasikala was given special treatment in prison.
Vice-presidential pick
Mr. Dhinakaran also announced that the AIADMK would support BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu in the upcoming vice-presidential election.
He said that he had discussed the issue with Sasikala during their hour-long meeting, and had obtained her consent to support Mr. Naidu’s candidature.
