TTV Dhinakaran on notice with Jaya probe

CHENNAI: Three days after AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran addressed a rally that saw a surprisingly high turnout in Madurai, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a judicial probe into the circumstances that led to the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. He also said her Poes Garden house will be turned into a memorial for public view.

Reacting swiftly, supporters of Dhinakaran questioned the conversion of Veda Nilayam, saying it would only lead to protracted legal tangles owing to uncertainties about the ownership.

The development, analysts say , is a consequence of Dhinakaran's assertion at the Melur rally that he welcomes a probe. Observers say the announcement reveals an intention in the EPS camp to up the ante against VK Sasikala's nephew who, emboldened by the support at Melur, had gone on to issue warnings to the ruling faction of the AIADMK to "mend its ways". "I see this purely as a response to Dhinakaran's speaking in Melur that he welcomes a probe," said Gnani Sankaran, a political observer. "Secondly, a probe, as we all know, will bring into question the people who were in the thick of things at Veda Nilayam and the hospital, both locations where Edappadi Palaniswami had very little role," he said.

Minutes after the announcement, BJP's national secretary H Raja wrote on Twitter that a merger between warring factions of the AIADMK was imminent.

Senior proponents in the camp of rebel leader O Panneerselvam, however, said their demands of a CBI probe into the death of the former chief minister and complete ba nishment of the VK Sasikala clan have not been met.

From the OPS dugout emerged reactions of elation that the EPS camp was finally responding to their demands, but conflicting views came out on the imminence of the merger. While former education minister K Pandiarajan called for negotiations, former minister KP Munusamy , an OPS camp politician, told ET: "What he [EPS] has done is announce a judicial commission but we demanded a CBI probe. If this party has to be saved, it needs to be relieved from the clutches of a single family . As for this announcement, it will have no bearing on the merger."

Another OPS camp spokesperson said: "This only shows that they (EPS camp) think the time has come for them to act and not overlook any further the demand of our leader."