Dhinakaran faction moves EC against Sasikala ouster

 Representatives of ousted AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran today approached the Election Commission and urged it to declare as invalid the party's general council meeting in which his aunt Sasikala was removed as general secretary.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the EC officials, Rajya Sabha MP Vijila Sathyananth said a memorandum containing facts, figures and by-laws of the party has been submitted to the poll body to back their claim.

The party's merged factions under Edappadi Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam on Tuesday declared late chief minister J Jayalalithaa as AIADMK's "permanent" general secretary and annulled the appointment of V K Sasikala as interim general secretary.

"The meeting and decisions taken in it cannot be considered as valid as the Madras High Court verdict had said that any decisions in the meeting will be subject to the final outcome in the appeal," Sathyanath said.

After a single judge of the Madras High Court dismissed the plea of the Dhinakaran faction for a stay on the general council meeting, it approached the division bench, which too refused to interfere with the former's conclusion.

The court, however, said that any decision taken at the impugned meeting will be subject to the final outcome in the appeal and posted the matter to October 23.

Sathyanath said the memorandum contained the procedures that should be followed before a call for general council meeting.

"According to party by-laws, General Secretary should convene the meeting, or 1/5th of the members should approach the GS to call for a meeting. None of these procedures were followed," she said, adding that the invitation for the meeting did not contain a signature to authorise the call.

She said this was a meeting arranged through force and money power.
The representatives, also including MPs Vasanthi Murugesan, N Gokula Krishnan and B Senguttuvan, said a general council meeting would be convened by ousted party deputy general secretary Dhinakaran with the permission of Sasikala.

The memorandum also mentioned any attempt to withdraw seven lakh affidavits filed by the AIADMK (Amma) faction in support of Sasikala and Dhinakaran should not be entertained by EC. "Without our permission none can withdraw our affidavits," she said.