The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam expelled nine cadres from their party posts on Tuesday. The members were considered loyal to ousted party leader TTV Dinakaran.

Dinakaran, who is VK Sasikala’s nephew, trounced the AIADMK’s candidate in the bye-election in Chennai’s RK Nagar Assembly constituency.

The nine members include Kancheepuram’s M Kothandapani, Gudiyatham’s Jayanthi Padmanabhan, Vridachalam’s VT Kalaiselvan, Periyakulam’s Dr Kathirkamu, Virudhunagar’s SG Subramanian, Sivaganga’s S Mariappan Kennedy, Ramanathapuram’s MLA S Muthiah and Tuticorin lawmakers Sundararaj R and Uma Maheshwari.

They were relieved from their posts with immediate effect, said a release signed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

The party has removed nearly 200 functionaries over the last week. On December 29, TTV Dinakaran had said the party leadership would “have to expel the 1.5 crore party cadre, leaving only five or six people in the other camp”, referring to AIADMK functionaries loyal to Palaniswami.

He had told reporters that the days of the Palaniswami government in Tamil Nadu were numbered. The Madras High Court, Dinakaran said, will pass its verdict by the end of January in the case against the disqualification of 18 MLAs who had supported him. Then, a floor test will be held in the Assembly, he had claimed.