AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran indicated that he would resume work in the party.
Out of prison on bail last night, AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran reached home in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai on Saturday afternoon, sending a message to party cadres that he was still the party's boss and would actively resume party work.
Mr Dinakaran had been side-lined by the party leaders amidst attempts to unite its two factions well before he was arrested in April by Delhi Police. One faction was led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and the other, by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palanisamy and Mr Dinakaran, hurriedly appointed deputy general secretary by Sasikala, who continues to be the AIADMK's general secretary.
OPS, as O Panneerselvam is popularly called in the state had declared that he would hold talks to unite the two factions only if Mr Dinakaran was booted out of the party, and the post. Mr Dinakaran was subsequently told to stay away; and he had obliged too. At that time, he was already facing the heat from the cops who were hot on his trail.
"None has told me I'm expelled. Only the General Secretary (Sasikala) has the right to expel anyone," Mr Dinakaran told reporters in Delhi, delivering a message to Chennai before he landed.
"I was away because of this problem in Delhi," the AIADMK deputy general secretary said, a clear hint that he intended to become active in party affairs again.
The problem that he referred was his arrest in April on charges that he, along with middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar, had tried to bribe election commission officials to get back AIADMK's 'two leaves' the election commission had frozen following aims by EPS and OPS factions.
He did return to a hero's welcome at the Chennai airport on Saturday afternoon, about a thousand supporters stood in attendance with garlands and flowers.
Finance Minister D Jayakumar suggested Mr Dinakaran's homecoming to the party was going to be a lot more complicated than taking a flight to Chennai. While he was in Delhi's Tihar jail, Chief Minister Palanisamy appears to have gotten used to the idea of running the show, rather than be Sasikala or Mr Dinakaran's proxy.
If he (Dinakaran) wanted to continue the (party) work...the matter will be decided by a party panel that looks into such matters, Mr Jayakumar, who is close to the Chief Minister, said, according to news agency PTI.
Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan, however, said there was nothing wrong in what Mr Dinakaran said. "Everyone has a right to carry out party work.. What is the problem ... Is it not their right?"