In a major shake-up in the AIADMK, party general secretary J Jayalalitha on Tuesday removed her close aide  Sasikala’s nephew and Rajya Sabha member T T V Dinakaran from the post of treasurer and appointed in his place Deputy Leader of the Opposition O Panneerselvam.
Mr Dinakaran, who had “fallen from grace” and has been lying low, has been shown the door in a reshuffle effected by Jayalalitha after a two-hour meeting with top leaders at her Poes Garden residence here on Monday.
Stake in Jaya TV
Mr Dinakaran has a stake in Jaya TV, which is being run by his wife and was elected to the Lok Sabha Sabha from Periakulam, the constituency from where Panneerselvam hails, in 1999.
In the 2004 elections, Mr Dinakaran lost to the DMK-backed Congress nominee J M Haroon. Such was his clout in the party that he got nominated to the Rajya Sabha soon after.
His downfall started last year following a power struggle in the inner circle involving other members of the Sasikala family like K Mahadevan.
Mr Dinakaran was not present during the Presidential election when party MPs and MLAs were seen voting according to their conscience. Senior leader and former Union minister M Thambidurai has been rehabilitated and appointed as propaganda secretary in place of Edapadi K Palanisamy.
While secretary of the party’s fishermen wing D Jayakumar has been named the new secretary of All World MGR Manram, secretary of minority wing and former Assembly Speaker P H Pandian has been appointed party’s organising secretary.Justin Selvaraj and K K Kalaimani are the new secretaries of minorities wing and fishermen wing respectively, according to a party release.