Making their first public appearance together at a rally in Ariyallur district in Central Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami and his deputy Panneerselvam hit out at Dinakaran without naming him for attempting to derail the Amma's (Jayalalithaa's) government.
Even as 19 dissident MLAs loyal to ousted deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran are staying put in a luxurious seaside resort in Puducherry for the second successive day, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the unified AIADMK asserted that it would soon convene the party's general council to remove jailed general secretary VK Sasikala. AIADMK sources said that Palaniswami has ordered all the ministers to return to Chennai on Thursday to decide on convening the general council.
"She is not in a position to execute the party work," AIADMK deputy coordinator and Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam, who was 'expelled' from the party by Dinakaran on Tuesday, told reporters.Vaithilingam had earlier announced that Sasikala would be removed by the general council following O Panneerselvam faction's merger with the official faction.
Making their first public appearance together at a rally in Ariyallur district in Central Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami and his deputy Panneerselvam hit out at Dinakaran without naming him for attempting to derail the Amma's (Jayalalithaa's) government. In an apparent reference to the dissident MLAs' letter to Governor Vidyasagar Rao, Palaniswami said some people who were part of this government were suddenly making corruption charges. "I don't know why. I am leaving it to their own conscience. I will tell you this is a government guided by the souls of two great leaders (party founder M G Ramachandran and late Jayalalithaa)," he said.
Panneerselvam urged the cadres to take a vow on the MGR's birth centenary celebration to protect Amma's government even by sacrificing their lives. "This government will continue in the path shown by Jayalalithaa. Nobody has the wherewithal to pull down this government," he claimed.
Angered by the move to sideline Sasikala family, Dinakaran removed four ministers and some other EPS loyalists from the party posts and replaced them with his loyal MLAs. Palaniswami had ousted Dinakaran from his deputy general secretary post on August 10 that paved way for merger with Panneerselvam faction.
AIADMK cadres supporting Palaniswami, meanwhile, staged a protest alleging that the MLAs were allegedly kept under detention in the Windflower resort in Puducherry. They raised the slogans condemning Dinakaran and they burnt his effigy in protest. Former MLA Om Sakthi Sekar alleged that they were being forcefully put up in the resort and accused Dinakaran of using money power.
Chorus grows for floor test
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu have joined the chorus seeking trust vote to prove Palaniswami government's majority on the floor of the House. Congress joined its ally DMK by writing to the Governor in this regard. CPM, CPI, PMK and MDMK also urged the Governor to convene the Assembly to conduct floor test. Palaniswami government's support in the Assembly was reduced to 115 MLAs after the rebellion by 19 MLAs. The government requires 117 MLAs for a simple majority in the House of 233 members excluding a vacant seat.
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