CHENNAI: Within hours of TTV Dinakaran's arrest, banners of AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala was seen being removed from the party headquarters last week. Sasikala's nephew and the party deputy general secretary, Dinakaran was arrested last week in connection with a bribery case. His aunt currently serves a prison term in Bangalore in a disproportionate assets case.
The removal of banners and photographs of 'Chinnamma' were one of the conditions demanded by O Panneerselvam faction to move ahead with a merger with the Sasikala faction of AIADMK. Presidium chairman of the OPS side, E Mashusudanan demanded the removal of the banners, which drew positive response from OPS himself. However, the merger remains stuck as both the sides are yet to settle who will become Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister- current CM Edappadi K Palaniswami or OPS. A senior EPS group leader said the OPS faction was delaying merger talks for over a week, even after their main demand, to denounce the Sasikala family, was fulfilled last week.
Sasikala faction remained silent on Dinakaran's arrest on the charge that he allegedly tried to bribe Election Commission officials to use the party symbol in a by-poll for the RK Nagar seat, that fell vacant since former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death. AIADMK leadership remains clueless on how to keep Sasikala and her family out when party organs, such as the mouthpiece Namadhu MGR, Jaya TV, and several assets of the party, remain with her loyalists.
Meanwhile OPS camp leader KP Munusamy welcomed the removal of her posters. He said, “Removal of Sasikala's posters from the AIADMK headquarters is a happy and welcoming step by the EPS camp. It it goes in the same way, we will talk for merger. We are all brothers from same family.”
