Chennai: The family has struck back. Embattled TTV Dhinakaran has expelled Rajya Sabha member R. Vaithilingam, who is one of the organising secretaries of AIADMK, from the party membership accusing him of “anti-party activities.”
He said General Secretary V K Sasikala, who is in jail, has ordered the expulsion of Vaithilingam. However, the former minister told Deccan Chronicle that Dhinakaran has no authority to expel him because he was himself removed from the party by J Jayalalithaa and Sasikala’s status as General Secretary is in question and the Election Commission is considering it.
Vaithilingam had on Monday said a formal resolution would be moved in the General Council soon for removal of Sasikala as General Secretary. He had made the comment soon after he was appointed as deputy coordinator of the AIADMK following merger of EPS-OPS faction.
In a statement, Dhinakaran said he was expelling Vaithilingam from the primary membership of the AIADMK for acting against the goals and policies and bringing “disrepute” to the party.
He also said he was taking the action against Vaithilingam in his capacity as deputy general secretary and with the approval of Sasikala, who is currently in Parapana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru.
However, in a strong rebuttal to Dhinakaran, Vaithilingam, who was one of the senior leaders of the AIADMK in the Jayalalithaa regime, hit back at him, saying he has no powers to take any action against him.
“Dhinakaran himself was removed from the party by our late Amma (J Jayalalithaa) and very recently his appointment as deputy general secretary of the AIADMK was declared illegal by the party office-bearers headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami,” Vaithilingam said. He wondered how a person, who himself is not part of the AIADMK, can remove him from the primary membership of the party and reminded Dhinakaran he was no longer part of the ruling party.
Vaithilingam also exuded confidence that all MLAs who have pledged support to Dhinakaran would return to EPS-OPS camp in the next few days. “The government will continue and there is no threat to this government. All those who left would return soon,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
The statement by Dhinakaran came a day after he dubbed as a “betrayal” of party general secretary Sasikala the merger of the two factions. “It is not a merger. It is a commercial agreement reached for self-interest and hunger for positions and to protect posts,” Dhinakaran had said.
