The dominant faction of the ruling AIADMK, led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam, has asserted its hold over the party by annulling the post of interim General Secretary held by VK Sasikala, who is in jail.

At a meeting of the General Council called by EPS and OPS today, the members resolved that the post of interim general secretary stood annulled and any appointments made by her in that capacity are not effective. This means Sasikala’s appointment of her nephew, TTV Dhinakaran, as Deputy General Secretary does not hold.

These were among the dozen resolutions passed by the General Council and bring to a head the protracted fight for control over the party following the death of former chief minister and party general secretary J Jayalalithaa last December.

Dhinakaran has the overt support of 21 MLAs out of the total of 134 AIADMK members in the 234-member Assembly. The members supporting Dinakaran maintain that they are part of the AIADMK but are opposed to Palaniswami as chief minister.

This has prompted the main opposition in the Assembly, the DMK, and its allies the IUML and the Congress, to demand that Governor Vidyasagar Rao convene the Assembly for EPS to prove his majority.

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