On Monday morning, AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran told the media that the cadres were with him and he would unite the party. But leaving no question of ambiguity, AIADMK leadership distanced itself from VK Sasikala’s nephew and said the party and the government had nothing to do with him.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, Finance Minister D Jayakumar said, “Dhinakaran should stick to the stand that he had taken before he left Chennai. He had said then that he would respect our wishes and keep away from the party.”
Seventeen ministers had met at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat on Monday even as Dhinakaran was scheduled to meet his aunt and AIADMK General Secretary (Amma) VK Sasikala at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru.
He also added that the state government is running smoothly. “We have been forced to come out and reiterate that our stand remains unchanged. We stick to our decision that he has nothing to do with the party,” said Jayakumar. However, the state FM refused to answer a question on why 10 MLAs had accompanied Dhinakaran to Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru to visit Sasikala.
Reacting to Jayakumar's statement, MLA Vetrivel, who was on Dhinakaran's side said, "Sasikala is the GS and Dhinakaran is the Deputy GS. No one else has a right to decide anything else in the party. These people are not worthy of making such decisions."
Dhinakaran had earlier on Monday said, “I was keeping away from the party because some Ministers had asked that I should be kept away. But when I came out of prison, the cadre of the party came to meet me - both in Delhi and in Chennai. Now I am going to meet (Sasikala) and she will decide my role.”
On June 1, Dhinakaran and his aide Mallikarjun got bail from a Delhi court. Both of them were lodged in the Tihar jail for allegedly trying to bribe EC officials, to get the two leaves symbol for his faction of AIADMK. Dhinakaran was arrested in the alleged bribery case on April 25.
On April 19, the then Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK stepped aside from the AIADMK and said, “I was asked to stay away from party affairs and I will listen to that for the sake of the party. I will not try to prove my strength.” "Our leaders want me to keep quiet so I will keep quiet,” declared Dhinakaran. "According to me, I have worked to their (cadre) expectations only. I want to keep quiet now because I don't want any problem in the party," he said.