Nineteen MLAs of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam who belong to sacked party Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran’s camp (pictured above) told Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Tuesday that they did not support Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and want him removed from the post.
The MLAs said they were dissatisfied with Palaniswami’s decision to merge his AIADMK faction with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s camp on Monday. Many Dinakaran loyalists said they were unhappy with the functioning of the government, and that they do not believe it will last. One of the loyalists, CR Saraswathi, also asked why party chief VK Sasikala was being shunned.
However, the legislators did not withdraw their support from the government formally. Besides these 19 MLAs, three other allies also back Dinakaran.
Meanwhile, Dinakaran on Tuesday expelled senior AIADMK MP R Vaithilingam from the party for his statement on Monday saying Sasikala will be removed from the AIADMK soon, ANI reported. Vaithilinigam was appointed the deputy AIADMK coordinator after the merger.
OPS camp’s demands
Before the merger, the Paneerselvan faction had demanded a written assurance that Sasikala will be sacked as the party chief. On Monday, Palaniswami had delayed the scheduled announcement of the merger as the draft resolution to remove Sasikala from the party was not ready. Panneerselvam had later said that the decision to expel Sasikala will be made after the party’s general body meeting.
Around 18 party MLAs meditated at the memorial of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Marina Beach in Chennai after the two AIADMK factions announced their merger at the party headquarters on Monday.
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