TTV Dhinakaran dismisses speculation of revolt

CHENNAI: T.T.V. Dinakaran, AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary, who held a meeting with his party ministers for more than an hour on Friday denied that ten ministers had revolted against him demanding his removal. Dhinakaran, who spoke to the media after the meeting with state ministers at his residence, expressed surprise at speculation of ten ministers seeking his removal from the deputy general secretary post. “Who are the ministers you are mentioning? All the ministers are here. What you are saying could be rumours”, Dhinakran, who was accompanied by 20 ministers, said.

Ruling out dropping of health minister C. Vijayabaskar who faced I-T raids, he said it would be unfair to drop a minister if there was an enquiry. A minister need not be removed if there was enquiry, he asserted and added that nothing would come out of the probe. “The minister had not done anything wrong and there is no pressure on the state government”, he quipped. Describing the meeting as a casual one, he said the ministers had come to greet him on Tamil New Year Day. “As 20 ministers had gathered at my house, we discussed many issues including the case against VK Sasikala's appointment as general secretary”, he said.  

To a query on the absence of Vijayabaskar at the meeting, he said the minister had gone to his native place after greeting Dhinakaran. To a question, Dhinakaran said he did not see any central government interference on the issue of freezing of AIADMK's two leaves symbol by the Election Commission. “As far as I am aware, there is no central government interference. Because the issue (of Two Leaves symbol) was raised by those against us (the Panneerselvam faction) Election Commission is looking into it,” he said.