The Mannargudi Mafia is finally out of the AIADMK. After five days of shadow boxing, the ruling dispensation today declared that Sasikala, Dinakaran and their family will have no role in the party or the government in the future.
In a late evening meeting at the residence of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami all the Ministers and a majority of the MLAs and top party functionaries decided enough was enough and declared that Sasikala, her nephew Dinakaran were being removed from the party. “Neither the party nor the government will be under the control of one family – particularly TTV Dinakaran’s family,” pronounced Finance Minister D. Jayakumar.
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As other senior Ministers stood behind in solid support Jayakumar also announced that his group will talk to the O. Panneerselvam faction for reunification of the party and reclaiming the party’s “Two Leaves” symbol. “This is the wish of crores of AIADMK cadres and we will ensure that the dreams of Amma will be fulfilled by this government,” Jayakumar said.
During a day of fast developments the morning saw Dinakaran fight back by refusing to stand down after O. Panneersevlam demanded the ouster of his family and an enquiry into Jayalalithaa’s death as preconditions for merger talks with the faction led by Edappadi Palaniswami. “The Ministers had no authority to talk about merger on Monday night, there is no question of Sasikala or her family leaving the party and when we have 122 MLAs there is no need for merger just to give Ministerial berths to OPS and his supporters,” Dinakaran’s loyalist MLA P.Vetrivel asserted on Tuesday bringing the entire process to an abrupt halt.
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But Chief Minister EPS and his Ministers refused to take this lying down. After lunch and siesta they gathered at the Chief Minister’s residence and decided to go ahead by activating the revolt against the family. The meeting decided that unless they bit the bullet immediately Dinakaran would find some way to create divisions amongst them and torpedo their plans. The ruling group also got information that the Delhi crime branch, camping in Chennai, was likely to arrest Dinakaran on Wednesday for attempting to bribe the EC through the fixer Sukesh Chandrasekhar.
The decision to oust the family was welcomed with celebrations by AIADMK cadres across the state who thanked EPS and OPS for saving the party. “This is what I had been waiting for and working for. I am happy at this development,” said former Chennai Mayor Saidai S. Duraiswamy, who had been a constant advocate of reunification.
According to sources EPS would continue to be Chief Minister while OPS could be made the general secretary with three senior MLAs from his camp being inducted into the cabinet. “We expect half a dozen MLAs loyal to Dinakaran breaking away, but that will be made up by the dozen MLAs in the OPS camp,” said Law Minister C.V. Shanmugam.
