3 senior leaders expelled from AIADMK

By Suresh Nambath

CHENNAI, APRIL 14. Two weeks after they were stripped of their party post, senior AIADMK leaders, Mr. Sedapatti R. Muthiah, Mr. S. Raghupathy and Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian, were today expelled for ``anti-party activities.''

The AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, in a party communique announcing the expulsion, accused them of ``indiscipline''. They had worked against the party and brought ``disrepute'' to the organisation, she said and appealed to partymen not to have any truck with them.

Ms. Jayalalitha told The Hindu that these leaders, who were put in charge of organisational elections, had sold party posts for sums around Rs. three lakhs. She had received complaints in this regard from the partymen at the meetings of district functionaries. After these leaders were removed as State-level office-bearers, they had threatened the partymen and vowed revenge after they regained Ms. Jayalalitha's favour. ``I wanted to remove this fear psychosis among the partymen, and so I expelled these leaders.''

Earlier in the day, Ms. Jayalalitha said the reshuffle at the top in the AIADMK was done with the general election in view.

Talking to reporters after garlanding the Ambedkar statue in Kodambakkam in the city on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanthi, Ms. Jayalalitha reiterated that she had acted on complaints received at the meetings of district functionaries.

Although Mr. Muthiah was sidelined from the time of the 1999 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian had been part of the inner circle until very recently. However, Ms. Jayalalitha said she had come to know of the wrong-doings only during her ongoing interaction with lower-level functionaries.

The senior leaders were put in charge of the district other than their own to oversee the organisational elections. But they came to an understanding among themselves and helped each other in getting their men planted in positions, defeating the very purpose of the organisational elections, she said.

Reacting to the expulsion, Mr. Raghupathy said he would prefer to ``wait and watch'' before deciding his next course of action. After being removed from his party post, he had been prepared to remain an ordinary member of the party. ``But I don't feel as if I've been removed from the AIADMK founded by MGR; I get the feeling that Ms. Jayalalitha has expelled me from the party run by Mr. T.T.V. Dinakaran (nephew of Ms. Jayalalitha's friend, Ms. Sasikala).''

Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian, speaking from Tirunelveli, accused Ms. Jayalalitha of ``dancing to the tune'' of the Sasikala family. ``She is the general secretary of the party only in name,'' he said. Noting that all MGR loyalists had been removed from the party, he said: ``We have to thank her for bringing us all together. We will try and relieve Tamil Nadu of the Sasikala family.''

However, Ms. Jayalalitha denied that the expulsions had anything to do with Mr. Dinakaran or Ms. Sasikala. The three were expelled solely on the basis of serious allegations levelled by the functionaries. Mr. Muthiah, the party treasurer, who was put in charge of the organisational elections in Chennai, came to an understanding with the Chennai strongman, Mr. Madhusoodhanan, and rigged the elections. Similarly, Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian, who was to conduct the elections in Coimbatore and Erode districts, tried to sell the posts for monetary consideration.

Dismissing Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian's claim that she was only nominally a general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha said he did not think so as long as he was the deputy general secretary and enjoyed power. Despite being given the post of the deputy general secretary, he had betrayed her and the party.

``These senior leaders were expected to act as a bridge between me and the partymen. But they were feeding me with lies,'' she said. After the changes, there was a resurgence in the entire party.

Explaining the reasons for the action against Mr. Raghupathy, Ms. Jayalalitha said the expelled leader had a secret understanding with the MGR-ADMK leader, Mr. S. Thirunavukkarasu.

As both Mr. Raghupathy and Mr. Karuppusamy Pandian were negotiating with the DMK for joining that party, ``I have pre- empted them by these expulsions.''

Ms. Jayalalitha, speaking about the reconstitution of the AIADMK parliamentary board, which was dissolved by her earlier, said this would be done before the election. The activities of the board were mainly centred around elections, she pointed out.

Asked if she would convene the general council of the party to obtain its seal of approval for the changes, Ms. Jayalalitha said there was no ``immediate or compelling necessity'' to do so. The general council meeting would be called whenever it was thought to be necessary.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Regional
Previous : CPI against Chhattisgarh State
Next     : 'Campaign against RSS motivated'