TTV Dhinakaran in Delhi; to meet BJP leaders?

AIADMK rebel and V K Sasikala’s nephew, T T V Dhinakaran has been in New Delhi for the past few days, fuelling speculation if the BJP is trying to initiate a compromise between two factions of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu.

The speculation gained credence after Tamil Nadu BJP President L Murugan also left for the national capital on Saturday morning. Highly-placed sources said Dhinakaran is staying put at Delhi for the past few days and is understood to be waiting for an appointment from an “influential leader” in the BJP.

This is the second time that Dhinakaran has gone to Delhi for “talks with BJP” in four months. “TTV is in Delhi. He is waiting to meet someone in the national capital. He is in Delhi for political reasons,” a source told DH. “Too premature to talk about any merger,” the source added when asked whether the BJP is trying to merge the EPS-OPS and TTV factions of the AIADMK.

Dhinakaran, who was banished by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2011, was brought back into AIADMK and was appointed as its deputy general secretary on February 15, 2017, the day Sasikala left for Bengaluru to surrender before the authorities at Parappana Agrahara prison to serve her 4-year jail term in disproportionate assets (DA) case.

However, Dhinakaran was removed from the position in September 2017 after Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam patched up and sacked Sasikala as “interim general secretary.” After being removed from AIADMK, Dhinakaran founded AMMK and became its general secretary.