Edappadi K Palaniswami flexes muscles for showdown with TTV Dhinakaran
Chennai: With TTV Dhinakaran appearing keen on keeping his promise to bounce back into ‘active’ politics on August 5 by summoning all the AIADMK district secretaries for a meeting at the party headquarters on that day, the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has now decided to take the ‘Family’ head-on.
The CM has called for a meeting of all ministers, party office-bearers and MLAs at the AIADMK headquarters Tuesday evening, where it is expected they would steel their resolve against “surrendering the party to one family” —Sasikala Natarajan, her nephew Dhinakaran and brother Divakaran, not to forget another nephew S. Venkatesh and her husband M. Natarajan.
It may be recalled that just before she left for Bengaluru to begin her jail term mid-February, Sasikala revoked the suspension (ordered by Jayalalithaa) of Dhinakaran and Venkatesh and even made the former the party deputy general secretary with all the powers of the general secretary in her absence.
As news spread on Monday that Dhinakaran has sent out communications to the district secretaries asking them to meet him at the party headquarters on Saturday in his capacity as deputy general secretary, the EPS camp swung into action with senior ministers going into huddle to discuss possible measures to stop the former Periyakulam MP from entering the party office.
Having withdrawn himself from politics since June 5, Dhinakaran's present communication to district secretaries' is seen as an apparent challenge to EPS even as talks for unification with the O.Panneerselvam group are on. Only on Sunday, Dhinakaran had reiterated he would resume his party work from August 5 and that he would work towards merger of the AIADMK factions.
Sources in the EPS camp said the chief minister is “very clear” on the decision taken in April not to have “any truck with the Sasikala family” and wants to reiterate this to the ministers and MLAs. “The Chief Minister has called ministers, MLAs and senior office bearers for this meeting at 5 pm on Tuesday only to reiterate we shall have nothing to do with the family,” a senior leader in the EPS camp said.
Sources said the EPS camp sounded optimistic about stopping Dhinakaran from resuming party activities. They said at least a dozen MLAs who had earlier met Dhinakaran have “quietly come back” to the EPS fold.
“Everyone understands that the Chief Minister is running the administration smoothly and they must support him”, a senior leader said, pointing to the “thin attendance” from the AIADMK at the funeral of Dhinakaran's mother-in-law in Thanjavur on Friday last.
His support base may be shrinking and yet Dhinakaran seems adamant on resuming party activities and has decided to even address his first public rally, post-arrest, at Theni on July 5 night before undertaking a state-wide tour to meet the party cadre and the local leaders “ to strengthen the AIADMK.”
Dhinakaran, who was jailed for nearly a month after arrest for allegedly attempting to bribe some Election Commission officials for a favourable order in the “Two Leaves” symbol case, has been maintaining that 'Chinnamma' Sasikala was his boss and he would take instructions only from her.
