Jayalalithaa removes Dinakaran from party post

CHENNAI: In yet another move against the family members of her confidante Sasikala, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa on Tuesday stripped TTV Dinakaran, nephew of Sasikala, of his party post and replaced him with former chief minister O Pannerselvam as treasurer.

Jayalalithaa, who has been of late visiting the party headquarters quite often, had discussions with senior leaders on Monday and brought about changes in the office bearers.

The move was seen as her effort to rejuvenate the party workers, whose morale had nosedived after the party’s defeat in 2006 assembly polls.

Dinakaran is the second member from the Sasikala family to be removed from the party post, the first being V Mahadevan, who was appointed as secretary of the Jayalalithaa Forum only to be relieved within three months.

Former union minister M Thambidurai, who had been sidelined in the party affairs, staged a comeback, when he was appointed as propaganda secretary.

The ouster of Dinakaran did not come as a surprise as he was said to have fallen out of Jayalalithaa’s favour.