EPS keen only about holding on to party reins: TTV Dhinakaran

CHENNAI: AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Saturday sharpened his attack on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, branding him as the “epitome of betrayal.”

He warned that the AIADMKwould face an even worse rout in the forthcoming elections than in 2021 if Palaniswami continued to helm the party.

“EPS is functioning with a single agenda of keeping the party under his control. He has shown no interest in restoring the AIADMK regime. If this persists, and senior leaders remain mute spectators, the party will suffer a defeat far more humiliating than that of 2021, Dhinakaran told reporters in Chennai.

Palaniswami altered the party’s bylaws to secure his grip on the organisation and its administrative powers, Dhinakaran said. He has introduced new rules that require nomination papers for the post of general secretary, which mandate the endorsement of 10 district secretaries with their signatures on the nomination paper and a proposal from an equal number of district secretaries, he added. It is akin to Palaniswami’s infamous ‘tender policy’ that he pushed through during the AIADMK regime, designed to favour a chosen few, Dhinakaran charged.

Recalling the sequence of events that led to his expulsion from the AIADMK, Dhinakaran said, “EPS told his MLAs that he expelled me under pressure from Delhi. I do not know whether that is true.”

Sholinghur ex-MLA Parthiban, seated alongside Dhinakaran, corroborated it. “When I confronted EPS, he replied it was due to pressure from the thaadi (beard) in Delhi,” Parthiban claimed.