VK Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dinakaran on Thursday claimed that Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and other Tamil Nadu ministers had violated the directives of the Election Commission by using the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Constitution to adopt a resolution against him.

Dinakaran’s statement came hours after the AIADMK’s Amma faction headed by Palaniswami formally rejected him as their deputy general secretary, saying that his appointment to the post had gone against party guidelines.

“When everybody appointed by Sasikala can perform their duty, why can’t I?” Dinakaran said. “No one can remove me from the party.”

Rumours of an AIADMK merger

Meanwhile, speculation over a possible merger between the two party factions was rife. “We are confident,” Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar said about merger negotiations. “We hope so,” ANI quoted the minister as saying.

Former AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa had expelled Dinakaran from the party in 2011. When he was appointed deputy general secretary, he had not completed the requisite five years in the party. The AIADMK has also asked its workers to reject any appointments Dinakaran made during his time as deputy general secretary.

This appears to be the first formal stance the AIADMK faction led by the chief minister has taken against Sasikala’s family. It comes amid rumours that the two camps of the party will merge. Jayalalithaa loyalist and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam leads the other side.

On August 4, Dinakaran had said that the two factions of the party were working towards a merger which could happen even before the founding anniversary of the AIADMK on October 17. But the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK had denied speculation that the two warring camps would merge and join the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

Two leaves symbol bribery case

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Delhi Police over accused Sukesh Chandrasekhar’s bail plea, ANI reported. The police had arrested the alleged middleman from a hotel room in the Capital on April 16 and seized a BMW and Mercedes from him.

Dinakaran and his aide Mallikarjuna were arrested on April 26 for allegedly bribing Election Commission officials to get the AIADMK’s two leaves symbol for the Amma faction. The police had began the investigation after Dinakaran was accused of giving money to Chandrasekar. The middleman was found to have finalised a Rs 50-crore deal to help the AIADMK (Amma) camp secure the “two leaves” symbol.

Sasikala’s nephew got bail in the case on June 1.