Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK removed jailed general secretary VK Sasikala from all party posts on Tuesday and named former chief minister J Jayalalithaa “eternal general secretary”, signalling a fresh stand-off in a protracted political crisis that has roiled the southern state.

At a general council meeting in Chennai, the party removed Sasikala and her nephew, TTV Dinakaran, from all positions and scrapped all appointments made by them. The AIADMK also restored all people appointed by Jayalalithaa, whose death last December triggered the crisis.The meeting also resolved to approach the election commission to reclaim the party’s frozen two-leaves symbol.

The party will now run by a 11-member panel headed by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam with chief minister Edapaddi Palanisami as co-coordinator.

General council meeting

Minutes later, Dinakaran rejected the resolution of the meeting and said that the party had no powers to remove either him or his aunt, who is in jail for corruption.

But the drama might not be over yet. 114 MLAs attended the general council meeting with 20 MLAs siding with Dinakaran staying away. This means that the government in danger if a floor test is called in an assembly with a majority mark of 117.

Senior minister D Jayakumar declared that action will taken against those who failed to attend the meeting. Speaker P Dhanpal has already issued notices to the dissident MLAs to explain their stand on September 14. It widely expected that they will  disqualified and may lose membership.

The Dinakaran camp hit back, saying that “we will bring down the government”. Their spokesperson CR Saraswathi said the meeting itself illegal and all decisions taken by the “illegal general council meeting will scrutinised by the Madras high court”.

“We have full faith in judiciary,” she said adding that now the battle for the party control will move to the high court. And higher courts if necessary, she said.

But senior AIADMK leaders are confident that all 19 MLAs with Dinakaran will gravitate towards the party and support the government as and when the times comes. Now, the party affairs will solely under the control of the panel headed by O Panneerselvam and chief minister Edapaddi Palanisami.

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