AIADMK splits as Jayalalitha ousts Thirunavukkarasu

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, headed by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha, split with seven of the 14 MPs casting their lot with S Thirunavukkarasu, whom the party chief had expelled on Monday.

The MPs who were present at Thirunavukkarasu's residence on Thursday evening told the press in a joint statement that the party was facing a grim future because of Jayalalitha's actions.

They demanded that she convene the general council to discuss steps to save the party from ruin, threatening to organise the general council meeting themselves otherwise.

The MPs pointed out that Jayalalitha has so far not responded to their earlier request made in this regard by about 300 general council members, including Thirunavukkarasu.

Expressing dismay over the expulsion of the former minister who was responsible for the party's impressive performance in the Puddukotai by-election after the assembly poll debacle, they alleged that the former chief minister had resorted to this at the instance of some sycophants.

Signatories to the statement are V Rajan Chellappa, T M Venkatachalam, N Rajendran, D Masthan, N Thangaraj Pandian, S Austin and P Soundararajan, all Rajya Sabha members. Austin had quit the party recently because the leadership did not consider his list of people to head grassroot organisations.

Jayalalitha, who removed Thirunavukkarasu for "anti-party activities", had claimed he was being removed for discussing intra-party matters in public and trying to form his own coterie within the AIADMK.

The MPs charged Jayalalitha with failing to guide the party, claiming she had not convened a single meeting in the last three years to decide the party's stand on various issues. The MPs claimed she hadn't learnt any lesson from the party's defeat in the last general election and functioned as an "autocrat".

A beaming Thirunavukarasu claimed that four more MPs would join him soon and by the time the general council was convened, the support would further swell. He said he would soon write to the Rajya Sabha chairman informing him of the MPs' decision.

He said as Jayalalitha had failed to convene the general council even three weeks after requests from more than one-fifth of the members, he himself would convene the council. He said the date would be announced soon. Invitations would be sent to all the members followed by advertisements in dailies, he added.

He also claimed that he was enjoying the support of a majority of the general council members and the question of expelling Jayalalitha from the party would be decided at the meeting.

"My ultimate aim is to form an AIADMK sans Jayalalitha with the support of all the MGR loyalists and restore MGR rule in the state," he said, adding that he would keep in touch with former ministers and senior leaders who had been expelled from the party.

Reacting to the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker's reported remark that he would be treated as an "unattached member" in the House, Thirunavukkarasu said he had written to the speaker informing him of the "illegal expulsion" from the party and requested him to continue to treat him as an AIADMK member.

Meanwhile, assembly secretary P Salomon Jaya Paul told the press that even if Thirunavukarasu was declared unattached, he would be provided a seat in the front row in his capacity as former minister.

Related story:Federal front on cards in TN

Earlier story:Revolt brewing in AIADMK