Sidelined AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran today removed Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar as the secretary of a party forum named after Jayalalithaa and appointed his aides to various party posts.
Dhinakaran, nephew of V K Sasikala, in a statement said Udhayakumar was being "relieved" of his role as secretary of the Puratchi Thalaivi Amma Peravai. He replaced Udhayakumar with MLA S Mariappan Kennedy, a loyalist.
MLA VV Rajan Chellappa has also been "relieved" of his duties as secretary of the party's Madurai suburban unit.
Dhinakaran, who had yesterday dubbed the merger of the two factions led by Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam as "betrayal" of party general secretary Sasikala, also named Thanjavur MLA M Rengasamy as the organisation secretary.
He also announced the appointment of M Sekar as Thanjavur (South) district secretary in place of Rajya Sabha member R Vaithilingm, whom he had "expelled" from the party yesterday.
The move came a day after Vaithilingam, a Palaniswami loyalist, said steps would be taken for the removal of Sasikala from the AIADMK.
A few weeks ago also, Dhinakaran had appointed his supporters to various party posts. MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran had yesterday told Governor Ch
Vidyasagar Rao they have lost confidence in the chief minister. The legislators are camping at a resort in neighbouring Puducherry.
The main opposition DMK has demanded a floor test in view of the rebellion in the AIADMK.
