A case of sedition was filed against sidelined All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dinakaran on Monday for distributing pamphlets that allegedly had defamatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami, NDTV reported. Fifteen of his supporters were also named in the FIR.
The complaint was filed by one Vinayakam, who claimed Dinakaran’s supporters were distributing pamphlets outside a public hall where Palaniswami was meeting senior officials on Sunday. The pamphlets contained “derogatory remarks” against the prime minister and the chief minister, PTI quoted the police as saying.
This is the second case against Dinakaran, who is engaged in a tussle for power with Palaniswami. He was earlier booked for allegedly making defamatory remarks against a party MP from Tiruchirappalli.
On Monday, Dinakaran claimed the complaint was filed because the chief minister “is the police minister”. The chief minister also holds the Home portfolio. “This government is anyway going to fall,” Dinakaran said. “They are doing such these things as he (Palaniswami) is the police minister. AIADMK supporters and the people are going to send them home.”
The power tussle
Since the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the ruling AIADMK has been all about splits and mergers. In February, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam had rebelled against the party’s decision to make VK Sasikala the AIADMK general secretary and then the chief minister. When Sasikala was sent to jail in a disproportionate assets case, she had made Edappadi K Palaniswami the leader of the government.
But in August, Palaniswami tied up with Panneerselvam to oust the jailed leader from the post of party general secretary. Dinakaran, Sasikala’s nephew, was also ousted as the deputy general secretary. He then garnered the support of 18 legislators to challenge the government in the Assembly. The speaker later disqualified them.
On September 20, the Madras High Court had extended the stay on a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The court was hearing a petition filed by the 18 AIADMK legislators.
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