Former Minister and the DMK candidate for the byelection to the Aravakurichi Assembly constituency, V.Senthil Balaji, on Saturday alleged that the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s desire to become the Chief Minister led to the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs.

Retaliating Mr. Dhinakaran’s taunt on Friday that he was power hungry, Mr. Balaji, one of the 18 disqualified MLAs, said that he had spent about a year of his political career with the AMMK leader. “I have closely watched his political moves and decisions. His main aim was to capture the AIADMK,” Mr.Balaji charged.

Canvassing at Nadupalayam, Mr. Balaji said Mr. Dhinakaran’s moves were targeted at the Chief Minister’s chair. It was with this aim he made the 18 MLAs to submit a memorandum to the Governor on withdrawing support to Chief Minister Edapaddi K. Palaniswami. It was the main reason for the disqualification of 18 MLAs, he charged.