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Lakshmi Subramanian
Lakshmi Subramanian

AIADMK

Dhinakaran, close aide arrested in bribery case

PTI4_22_2017_000073B [File photo] T.T.V. Dhinakaran | PTI

Dhinakaran had yesterday confessed to meeting middleman Chandrasekar

AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran was arrested last night around 12.30 am by the Delhi Police for allegedly trying to bribe the Election Commission (EC) officials to retrieve the frozen 'two leaves' symbol and get it allotted for his faction of the party. 

Dhinakaran was being questioned by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police for the past four days at the Chanakyapuri crime branch office in the capital. The police also arrested Dhinakaran's close aide Mallikarjuna, alleged to have given him shelter even when the police was looking for him. 

Mallikarjuna, along with his 53-year old friend, will be produced at the Tis Hazari court in Delhi at 2 pm on Wednesday. 

Interestingly, the Tis Hazari court in the city on Tuesday had questioned the police on their lack of action against Dhinakaran and on why had he not been arrested yet. 

Sources in the Delhi police said Dhinakaran accepted and confessed to have met alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar, a habitual offender, who was the first to be picked by the Delhi crime branch police in the case. 

However, sources close to Dhinakaran have denied the claims of the Delhi police. They said neither did Dhinakaran confess to meeting Chandrasekar nor did he pay the latter any money for bribing the EC officials. 

"He denied the allegations against him," said a source close to him in the family. 

It all began on April 16 when Chandrasekar was arrested by the Delhi police from a five-star hotel in South Delhi and seized Rs 1.3 crore, which he had in possession allegedly for bribing the EC officials, from his room. 

He was then said to be Dhinakaran's 'middleman'. Subsequently, the Delhi crime branch summoned the AIADMK (Amma) leader to appear for the probe. He was apparently questioned for 37 hours and his secretary P. Janardhanam too, was made to appear for the enquiry. While Chandrasekar was also being questioned, all the three were made to separately appear for the enquiries. 

Notably, Dhinakaran was facing a strong rebellion from the former chief minister O. Panneerselvam-led faction of the party, known as AIADMK(puratchi thalaivi amma). The OPS faction has been stoutly demanding for the removal of Dhinakaran and his jailed aunt V.K. Sasikala as deputy general secretary and general secretary of the party, respectively. The OPS faction looks to merge the party by evicting Sasikala and Dhinakaran, and then get back the frozen 'two leaves' symbol for the AIADMK. 

The ruling party of Tamil Nadu has been courting controversies ever since the death of J Jayalalithaa on December 5. Soon after her death, the party, including OPS and other leaders, quickly promoted Jayalalithaa's close aide V.K. Sasikala as its general secretary. 

However, in no time, the move backfired OPS, who was the then chief minister. He eventually resorted to revolting against the elevation of Sasikala, who wanted to take over the reins from the former. 

OPS submitted his resignation and proceeded to Jayalalithaa's memorial to declare his rebellion. However, Sasikala was arrested in the DA case soon and has been lodged in the Bengaluru prison ever since. Soon, she appointed her nephew Dhinakaran as the party general secretary, inviting more protests from the OPS faction. 

However, Dhinakaran's arrest, say party insiders, has now brought disrepute to the party as there are serious corruption charges against the Mannargudi family. The party members now want both Sasikala and Dhinakaran to be expelled from their posts.

Apparently, the arrest has led the OPS camp to push for a possible merger. Meanwhile, Sasikala banners has been removed from the party office to pave way for truce talks. 

Interestingly, in a superstitious party like the AIADMK, it remains to be seen who would take up the top job after the arrest of its two leaders.

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