Chennai: Rebel leader TTV Dhinakaran on Wednesday attempted to fish in AIADMK troubled waters by harping on the letter written by party nominee E. Madhusudhanan blaming senior ministers for his loss in December 21 R K Nagar bypoll.
Dhinakaran, who defeated Madhusudhanan by a huge margin, said the rumblings within the party has just begun and would only grow as days pass.
“The AIADMK suffered defeat in RK Nagar polls only due to Madhusudhanan, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam,” he told reporters outside the Assembly.
Dhinakaran also accused the ruling AIADMK of “bribing voters” to secure the second place failing which the party would have been pushed to the third position.
He was responding to the letter written by Madhusudhanan questioning why no action has been taken against any party functionary so far for the party's defeat in the December 21 bypoll.
The senior leader has also hinted at differences between leaders of two factions in the constituency. Madhusudhanan has also blamed other senior ministers who camped in the constituency for a fortnight for “not putting their heart and soul into the campaign.” The leader is also understood to have questioned the Chief Minister whether the “hearts have really synced.”
On Wednesday, when reporters sought his reaction, Madhusudhanan refused to “speak about the issue in public” since it is an intra-party affair. “I will never do anything to defame AIADMK. Only EPS and OPS would know whether I have written or not,” he said.
Reacting to Madhusudhanan's letter, AIADMK spokesperson Vaigai Chelvan said the high-level committee of the party would discuss the reasons for the defeat.
“Victory or defeat is quite common in elections and everyone from AIADMK worked quite hard to ensure party's victory,” he said.
