AIADMK sacks 23 office-bearers from Theni, Erode districts over 'anti-party activities'

The AIADMK on Thursday sacked 23 of its office-bearers belonging to Theni and Erode districts, accusing them of bringing disrepute to the party, media reports said. O Panneerselvam, AIADMK coordinator, and Chief Minister E Palaniswamy, the co-coordinator, announced the expulsion of 21 AIADMK functionaries from Theni district and two others from the Erode urban unit of the party. [caption id=“attachment_4319671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File images of O Panneerselvam and E Palaniswamy. PTI[/caption] In separate statements signed by both Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam, the two leaders said the action was being taken since the said persons went against party principles and “brought disrepute” to it. They also asked the AIADMK workers not to have any interaction with them. The two leaders had earlier too expelled a number of functionaries while stripping the party posts of some of the key aides of rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran (also spelled as Dinarakan). On 23 January, the ruling party had expelled 280 functionaries in Ramanathapuram and Tiruvannamalai districts, The Hindu said. On 11 January, top AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswamy expelled a number of party workers, including a spokesperson for alleged anti-party activities. Earlier, on 29 December, 2017, both Panneerselvam and Palaniswamy had approved the expulsion of 44 district-level functionaries who were Dhinakaran’s supporters, The New Indian Express reported. Palaniswami and Panneerselvam, who merged their respective factions in August 2017, had last month warned of action against those who go against the party, following its loss in the 21 December RK Nagar bypoll, won by sidelined party leader Dhinakaran. With inputs from PTI