All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Amma) deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, on 20 June, visited the party’s general secretary VK Sasikala at the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru.
Thambidurai met Sasikala first, followed by Dhinakaran, Director General of Prisons HN Satyanarayana Rao said.
“It was a courtesy call on Chinnamma,” Thambidurai said of the meeting. He denied any division in the party and corruption charges against his leaders. “I met Madam Chinnamma. It was a courtesy call. Nothing special in that. Tamil Nadu is doing very well. Party stands united. There is no division. We all follow Amma’s legacy. This is centenary year celebrations of MGR too,” he said.
The visit came after Dhinakaran informed the media that Sasikala will take the final call on how the party will vote in the presidential elections.
It (the party’s stand on the presidential poll) will be decided by party’s general secretary Sasikala.
Asked whether the party will support Kovind, he said, “That also will be decided by (party) general secretary”.
On whether Sasikala has given any message to partymen on the matter, he said, “No message was given.”
Replying to a question, Dhinakaran maintained that it was a family meeting. “ Today I came here to meet my aunt Sasikala. There was no political discussion, it was only a family meeting,” he said. Asked if DMK was destabilising the Tamil Nadu government by dividing AIADMK, Dhinakaran said:
In politics, our enemies will try to destabilise our government and divide our party. It is natural. They will try to do that, but we will fend off their actions and protect our party.
Replying to a query, Thambidurai blamed DMK Working President MK Stalin for “conspiring” against the AIADMK.
I can only say, there is no bribery case against anyone. Everything is alright. This is purposely developed by Stalin, and therefore I totally deny all these things (corruption allegations).
Sasikala has been lodged at the Parapanna Agrahara Prison ever since her conviction in February in the disproportionate assets case, along with her two relatives VN Sudhakaran and Elavarasi.
(With inputs from The News Minute)
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