AIADMK cadre in Erode, Sulur resign in protest

On January 1, a section of the workers resigned from party positions in Erode. It was closely followed by the resolution of nearly 300 workers in Kannampalayam Town Panchayat near Sulur to ask Jayalalithaa’s niece to take over the party. However, they decided to remain in the party, but refused to accept Sasikala as the General Secretary. 

“We will be organising a two-wheeler rally near Sulur in a couple of days seeking support from the public for Deepa, niece of late CM J Jayalalithaa, as she is the political heir of Amma,” says the party chief of Kannampalayam Town Panchayat J P Manickam under whose leadership the cadre and local functionaries opposed Sasikala’s leadership.  

Among those who rebelled against Sasikala’s leadership are Kannampalayam Amma Peravai Secretary K A Kathirvel, MGR Mandram Secretary Manivannan and former councillors Shanthi Nagaraj, Chitradevi Radhakrishnan, Mayilsamy, Palanisamy and Rajendran. They termed Sasikala’s rise to power as “back door entry.” 

Terming themselves as loyalists of the party and Jayalalithaa they condemned the party’s district level functionaries and elected representatives for ‘switching loyalty.’ Those who relinquished their position in the party and its various wings in Erode said more cadre would quit if Sasikala continued as the general secretary.