CHENNAI: In a major setback to Team Sasikala, late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's nephew Deepak Jayakumar hit out at TTV Dinakaran, calling him unfit to be AIADMK's deputy general secretary. He said that the party leadership would be in better hands with former chief minister O Panneerselvam.
"Dinakaran is not fit to be the party deputy general secretary. My aunt was opposed to family politics. She got Dinakaran MP post, and she threw him out of the party too," he said as he recalled the expulsion of the Sasi clan, 14 members including herself, from Poes Garden in 2011. After being reinducted by Jaya in 2012, after her public apology, Sasi brought Dinakaran back into the party on February 15 this year. Jayakumar said the party needs officials like Pannerselvam, E Madhusudanan, and C Ponnaiyan. "I hope Dinakaran will understand that," he said.
Noting that Sasikala was like his mother, Jayakumar said, "My aunt is already there. OPS Anna should be given Dinakaran's post. There will be only one candidate for the AIADMK in Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency. Our goal is to defeat Stalin, not OPS or Deepa (Jaya's niece)." He said the visible split within the party was only a family dispute and would be sorted out amicably. Regarding the controversy surrounding Amma's Poes Garden residence, he said it was family property and belonged to him and Deepa.
He stated that there was no need to evict the current inmates, adding that he was willing to pay the £10 million fine imposed on his late aunt by availing loans. "If they want, let us have a probe. We (Sasikala and himself) are ready to prove our innocence to all, including my sister Deepa. Everything from hospitalisation to treatment was genuine. I was in hospital for 62 or 64 days and I visited my aunt."
