‘Dhinakaran’s arrest won’t have impact’

As he has stepped aside, question does not arise, say leaders

T.T.V. Dhinakaran at the Crime Branch office in Delhi on Monday.

The arrest of deputy general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Amma (AIADMK-Amma), T.T.V. Dhinakaran, will have no impact on the affairs of the organisation, according to a cross-section of the party leaders and legislators.

“He (Dhinakaran) himself had opted to step aside. Where does the question of impact arise ?” wondered C. Ve. Shanmugam, Law Minister and secretary of the Villupuram (North) district unit of the party. The same point was echoed by another functionary from a southern district.

Vaigaichelvan, former Minister and now a spokesperson of the party, felt that the situation would have been different had Dhinakaran not made his announcement of staying away.

Pointing out that the party does not have, as yet, a mass leader of the stature of M.G. Ramachandran or Jayalalithaa, he said the time has come for the party to function under a collective leadership.

He lauded the way Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has been discharging his duties at a time when the State is in the midst of a severe drought. “He has cleared 1,500 files in the last two months,” Mr. Vaigaichelvan says.

‘No midnight talks’

Perumal Mani, political observer, said that though there will be no immediate impact on the party, the “vacuum in leadership” will be felt by the organisation for years to come. Under such circumstances, Dhinakaran may emerge as the more acceptable leader if he comes out of his legal battles successfully by then.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited talks between the two groups, which was expected to commence in a formal way at least on Wednesday, did not take place. R. Vaithilingam, chairman of the AIADMK-Amma’s seven-member committee on merger talks and organising secretary of the party, denied reports that he and chairman of the party’s presidium K.A. Sengottaiyan had held a five-hour-long discussion with former Ministers K. P. Munusamy and Natham R. Viswanathan, prominent leaders of the AIADMK-Puratchi Thalaivi Amma.

TNCC’s charge

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Su. Thirunavukkarasar on Wednesday linked T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s arrest to the BJP’s attempt to enter Tamil Nadu “by the back door.”

“They tried to divide the AIADMK, and now they are trying to unite it...This is part of their attempt to enter Tamil Nadu by the backdoor,” Mr. Thirunavukkarasar said.