All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (Amma) faction leader TTV Dinakaran, who is out on bail, met his imprisoned aunt and party chief VK Sasikala in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara on Monday, ANI reported. Speaking to reporters before he set out to meet her, Dinakaran said several Tamil Nadu ministers who had announced their decision to cut ties with him had done so out of fear.
The faction’s deputy general secretary did not specify what fears he was referring to but said he would release the information later.
Dinakaran was released on bail on June 1. Almost 20 state ministers had said they have severed ties with Dinakaran and his associates after Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court granted him bail, The Hindu reported. “We are clear, firm and determined in our decision taken on April 17 and we will not have any contact with them [Dinakaran and his family members]. We are running the government without any interference from anyone who has his backing,” Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar said.
Dinakaran and Mallikarjuna were arrested on April 26 for allegedly bribing EC officials to get the party’s two-leaves symbol for its faction. The police had began the investigation after Dinakaran was accused of giving money to middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar, who was arrested on April 16.
This comes amid an ongoing crisis in the state, after the ruling party split into two factions in February. The two factions had been led by Sasikala and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. Panneerselvam had refused to merge with Sasikala and Dinakaran’s set of AIADMK leaders until they completely cut ties with her family. The party symbol had been frozen by the Election Commission after the split, and will remain so at least until June 16.
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