All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam senior leader E Madhusudhanan on Friday said party chief VK Sasikala cannot expel him as the AIADMK presidium chairman or from the party’s primary membership as he had expelled her first. “She cannot expel me as I have already expelled her from the party,” he told reporters after the AIADMK announced his removal from the post.

The AIADMK nominated KA Sengottayan to the top post instead. “Madhusudhanan has violated the party principles and brought disrepute to the party,” Sasikala said in a statement. The announcement came soon after Madhusudhanan had said he had sent a memorandum with the Election Commission, which sought to declare Sasikala’s election as the AIADMK chief null and void, The Times of India reported.

As per the AIADMK constitution, framed by party founder MG Ramachandran, the presidium chairman holds the power as the top-most AIADMK official in the absence of a general secretary. Madhusudhanan said MGR had “always wanted a person to be elected general secretary only by cadres of the party”. “By that scale, Sasikala’s election is null and void and she is not the party’s general secretary,” he asserted.

The move to remove Madhusudhanan from the post of presidium chairman appears to be retribution after he supported O Panneerselvam during the ongoing chief ministerial row in Tamil Nadu. “O Panneerselvam is the real heir of Amma,” Madhusudhanan had said on Thursday.

This comes a day after AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala staked claim to form the government in Tamil Nadu. The announcement came as the chief minister designate met Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai.

The impasse between Sasikala and Panneerselvam has left Tamil Nadu politics in turmoil. The divide in the party was made evident after Panneerselvam on Tuesday said he had been forced to resign as chief minister. He said his camp is prepared to respond to any allegations levelled by Sasikala and her supporters. Though Sasikala had claimed that she enjoyed the support of a majority of AIADMK MLAs, Panneerselvam had said that several legislators are on his side and that he can prove his strength in the state Assembly.