Five TTV Dhinakaran loyalists sent packing by ruling party

Chennai: TTV Dhinakaran had managed his RK Nagar bypoll win by fraudulent means and through a secret pact with DMK leader M.K.Stalin to gain his party’s (DMK) votes, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Monday. “Stalin did not mind losing one eye (by his candidate Marudhu Ganesh losing) but wanted to ensure that the AIADMK lose both its eyes. But his party lost both its eyes as its candidate lost his deposit”, the CM told reporters after chairing, along with OPS, the meeting of the AIADMK high-level committee at the party office here. EPS is the joint coordinator of the party.

“We will take severe action against all those who had betrayed the AIADMK in this byelection. TTV’s is not a genuine victory; it was the result of conspiracy and thillu-mullu”, the CM said. Referring to the video of Jayalalithaa sipping juice in her hospital bed, released by TTV loyalist Vettrivel a day before the poll day, the CM said, “No genuine party cadre who cared for Amma would release such a video”. After the party meeting, five top TTV lieutenants were stripped of their primary membership of the AIADMK. They are, VP Kalairajan, V. Muthiah, Karnataka party secretary V. Pugazhendi, Nanjil Sampath, women’s wing deputy secretary C.R.Saraswati. 

Also, P.Vettrivel (north Chennai), N.G.Parthiban (Vellore east), N.Rangasamy (Thanjavur north) and Thanga Tamizhchelvan (Theni) have been removed from their positions as party district secretaries — obviously they were not expelled from the party itself as they have moved the high court challenging their disqualification as MLAs by the Assembly Speaker. Reacting to the party’s punishment, Tamizhchelvan said, “They have no right to remove us from our party posts”.