AIADMK general council meeting: Jayalalithaa granted title of 'eternal general secretary', party announces

Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK on Tuesday announced J Jayalalithaa would be granted the title of the party’s “eternal general secretary”. The party also announced that those appointed by the former party chief before her death would continue to hold their respective positions within the party, effectively removing VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran from all top posts, reported Zee News. The party also scrapped the post of general secretary, which was being held by VK Sasikala. A resolution was passed during the general council meet held by party in Chennai to declare all of jailed leader Sasikala’s decisions as “null and void” and also invalidate her subsequent decisions about party matters. [caption id=“attachment_3944603” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of J Jayalalithaa. AFP[/caption] Reading out the resolution adopted during the meeting, RB Udaykumar told the media that those appointed by Jayalalithaa as office bearers, will continue to hold their positions in the party, reported ANI. During the meeting, AIADMK members also decided that the two factions would be formally united and take efforts to retrieve the official ’two leaves’ party symbol, reported Hindustan Times. The decisions, however, are subject to the approval  of the Madras High Court, which gave a green signal to the meeting on Monday, dismissing a petition from Sasikala loyalists to put it on hold. Eighteen Sasikala loyalists skipped Tuesday’s meeting. The ruling faction of AIADMK decided to hold the general council meeting after sidelined deputy general secretary Dhinakaran camp’s attempt  to stall the meeting failed. Sasikala, who was Jayalalithaa’s long-time aide, was appointed as the general secretary in December 2016, weeks after the death of party chief’s death. Click here for live updates