Dissident AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who recently won the byelection to the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency as an Independent candidate, was sworn in as the constituency’s MLA on Friday. Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal administered the oath to Mr. Dhinakaran at his chamber in the Secretariat.
Mr. Dhinakaran was sworn in even as the AIADMK continued its crackdown against his supporters, removing 135 more functionaries from the primary membership of the ruling party on Friday.
He arrived at the Secretariat complex around 1.30 p.m., and was greeted en-route by hundreds of his supporters. Later, flanked by his supporters, including many disqualified AIADMK MLAs, Mr. Dhinakaran took oath as an MLA.
Incidentally, it was on the same day last year that V.K. Sasikala, his aunt and former aide to late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, was appointed the interim general secretary of the AIADMK, a position from which she was ousted several months later.
Addressing journalists after taking oath, Mr. Dhinakaran claimed that his ‘sleeper cells’ in the ruling party would get activated during a no-confidence vote and would topple the current government soon.
Stating that his victory in the R.K. Nagar bypoll was “a signal” to the “anti-people, betrayers’ government”, Mr. Dhinakaran said, “The people of R.K. Nagar have proven that merely having a symbol and a party are not enough.”
Taking aim at Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and a few other figures in government, Mr. Dhinakaran said the AIADMK was facing several struggles due to the wrongdoings of five to six people.
“It is because you are subservient to someone that the voters of R.K. Nagar have taught you a good lesson,” he said, in an apparent reference to the BJP’s alleged influence over the ruling party and interference in State politics. He further claimed that many in government, including Ministers and MLAs, were with him “in their hearts”, but were sticking around with the ruling party because of their greed for power.
Sounding a note of caution to those in power, he asserted that the current government will not survive beyond a few months.
In response, Mr. Panneerselvam, who arrived at the Secretariat later, said, “I cannot answer those who are living in a dream world.”
Meanwhile, 135 functionaries, including former Minister M. Radhakrishnan, were expelled. One of the disqualified MLAs, Thangatamilselvan, dared the AIADMK leadership to remove the 18 disqualified MLAs too from the primary membership of the party.
