TAMIL NADU

Dhinakaran says he does not plan to float a party soon

ttv-dhinakaran-sasi-pti (File) T.T.V. Dhinakaran

Sidelined AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Wednesday said there was no immediate necessity for him to float a new political party and added that he would move the court seeking permission to function as AIADMK (Amma).

He had already moved the Madras High Court challenging the validity of AIADMK general council meeting, which had annulled the appointment of his aunt V.K. Sasikala as party interim general secretary. A decision in this regard is pending, Dhinakaran said.

Legal sanction would be sought for functioning as AIADMK (Amma) and a decision would be taken later, he told reporters. He was responding to questions about reports that he was planning to float a new party.

Following a revolt against jailed leader Sasikala by now deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam early last year, the Election Commission had, in an interim order, frozen the AIADMK two leaves symbol.

It allotted the name AIADMK (Amma) to the group led by Sasikala and AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) to the erstwhile faction led by Panneerselvam.

In its final order last year, the EC had allotted the two leaves symbol to the unified AIADMK led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E.K. Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, dealing a blow to the Sasikala faction.

ALSO READ: With Dhinakaran’s win in the R.K. Nagar byelection, uncertainty returns to Tamil Nadu politics

Palaniswami led group, which had earlier rebelled against Sasikala, and Panneerselvam group merged in August last year.

Dhinakaran, who won the R.K. Nagar assembly by-election in December last as an independent, said he had many options, including floating a new party.

Claiming that Paneerselvam and Palaniswami were using the name AIADMK and two leaves symbol only temporarily, he said there were four options, including starting a new party, before his consideration.

"In view of this, there is no immediate necessity to start a party and if we are barred to use the AIADMK (Amma) name, there is no no other way but to float a new party which will be to retrieve the AIADMK and symbol," he said.

READ MORE: Why R.K. Nagar byelection unleashes a political storm in Tamil Nadu

Dhinakaran said his "sleeper cells" (in AIADMK) will come out during the test of strength in the assembly.

He had been claiming that several MLAs in the ruling camp were his supporters and would vote against the government when the occasion arose.

MGR birth anniversary celebrated

Meanwhile, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam distributed biryani to the party workers at the AIADMK party office in Chennai on the 101st birth anniversary of M.G. Ramachandran.

Earlier in the day, party workers took out a procession to the statue of M.G. Ramachandran and garlanded it on the occasion.

Scores of fans and supporters gathered to remember MGR on his birth anniversary.

The actor-turned-politician, MGR, founded his party AIADMK after a feud with DMK chief M. Karunanidhi in 1972. He served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987.

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.

Related Reading