Chennai: The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Monday decided to sack six office-bearers supporting sidelined party leader TTV Dhinakaran, a day after he won the RK Nagar by-poll with a thumping margin of 40,000 votes.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by top party office-bearers E Palanisamy and O Panneerselvam, AIADMK sources said.
The party decided to remove, among others, key Dhinakaran aides Vetrivel and Thangatamilselvan, AIADMK district secretary in Chennai and Theni respectively, the sources said.
#FLASH S. Vetrivel, Thanga Tamil Selvan, Rangaswamy, Muththaiya, V.P. Kalairajan, Sholinghur Parthiban removed from party positions in AIADMK; decision taken in a high level committee meeting to discuss party's performance in #RKNagarByPoll
— ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2017
Though AIADMK supporters are divided between Dhinakaran and the Palanisamy-led camps, many office-bearers from the rival group hold party posts.
In a jolt to the ruling dispensation, Dhinakaran defeated its candidate E Madhusudhanan by 40,707 votes in the December 21 RK Nagar by-poll.
Buoyed by his impressive win in RK Nagar by-election, AIADMK rebel TTV Dhinakaran on Sunday vowed to bring down the EPS-OPS government within three months with help from its “sleeper cells”, who will make themselves public during the trust vote on the floor of the Assembly.
“This government (AIADMK administration led by EPS-OPS) will fall in another three months. I have always spoken about my sleeper cells within the government. The sleeper cells are still active and they will come out during the trust vote (in the Assembly)”, Dhinakaran told reporters.
Reacting to Dhinakaran's comment Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Monday said, "Whatever TTV Dhinakaran says are nothing but lies. He himself told us that he is a big 420."
