VK Sasikala faces revolt in her own faction
The minister said their only motto is to reclaim the party's magical Two Leaves
Chennai: A section of AIADMK faction has put V.K. Sasikala and her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran on notice. The senior leaders, who have raised the banner of revolt against the two leaders, have given Ms Sasikala and Mr Dhinakaran two days to quit from their posts in the AIADMK and warned of sidelining them if they didn’t step down.
After asking the two to quit so that both factions of the AIADMK could unite, a group of ministers is expected to meet the party’s deputy general secretary on Tuesday to reiterate their demand.
“We have given them two days to get back to us. When we meet Mr Dhinakaran on Tuesday, we will once again place our demand asking him and his aunt to step down from their party posts. If they resign, it is good. If they don’t, we will sideline them. There is no going back on our decision,” a minister said on the condition of anonymity.
The minister said their only motto is to reclaim the party’s magical “Two Leaves” symbol and ensure the party-led government continues the good work initiated by late Amma. They feel O Panneerselvam will come back to the AIADMK.
“I think the only reason for Mr Panneerselvam to rebel against the party was the leadership of Sasikala. If the family quits the leadership, I don’t think he will continue as a separate faction. The former CM also wants to save Two Leaves and hence we will function as one party like we did when Amma was alive,” the Minister said.
Another senior leader said that once the family is sidelined from the party, formal talks would be launched with Mr Panneerselvam and leaders of his factions on the merger. “During the talks it will be decided who will head the government, who will head the party and other modalities. Right now, the only focus is to unite the party and reclaim the symbol,” the senior leader said.
The revolt by the Ministers of the Sasikala camp comes a week after I-T department raided the premises of Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, cancellation of the R K Nagar by-poll and reopening of the FERA trial against Mr Dhinakaran.