MADURAI: The glaring division within Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK party has once again proved to be troublesome as party members prepare for the coming Thevar Jayanthi celebrations. Raising questions about the “real” AIADMK, Madurai branch of the Bank of India declined to hand over the traditional golden armour donated by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa to commemorate iconic thevar leader Pasumpon Muthuramalingam. The armour will be the toast of the guru pooja that is scheduled to begin on October 28 and end on October 31.
Sources said considering the ongoing dispute over the party and its symbol, the BoI branch in Anna Nagar in Madurai raised queries about who will represent the party. A senior party leader in the ruling camp said, “After clarifications are provided to the bank, the armour would be handed over to the true custodians in a day or two.” The armour has been kept in the bank's vault and is traditionally handed over to the descendants of the thevar party and AIADMK treasurer during the event. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) was removed and replaced from the post of party treasurer with Dindigul C Sreenivasan, after he revolted against Sasikala in February this year.
OPS has reportedly written to the chief managers of Karur Vysya Bank and Bank of India, asking them not to allow anyone to operate them. Donated by Jayalalithaa to the thevar memorial, the golden armour weighs 13kg and is estimated to cost 4.5 Crore. Each year, after Thevar Jayanthi, it is placed back in a safe in the BoI branch of Madurai. The treasurer of the AIADMK, a post held by OPS for nearly a decade now, and the person in charge of the Thevar memorial in Pasumpon, are joint signatories to this safe deposit.
