LS polls: Dhinakaran releases final list of AMMK candidates for Tamil Nadu

The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam is contesting 38 of the 39 seats in the state

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) headed by TTV Dhinakaran Friday announced its second and final list of 14 candidates for the April 18 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. The list included three disqualified AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to Dhinakaran, who floated the AMMK after being sidelined in the ruling party.

The AMMK is contesting 38 of the 39 seats in the state and Dhinakaran had earlier announced candidates for 24 seats. It has alloted Chennai Central constituency to its ally Social Democratic Party of India.

On Friday, Dhinakaran released the list of the 14 candidates, including close aide Thanga Tamilselvan who has been fielded in Theni constituency. He will take on AIADMK Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s son P Ravindranath, who is making his electoral debut.

N G Parthiban and P Palaniappan are the other disqualified MLAs who have been nominated by Dhinakaran. They will contest from Arakkonam and Dharmapuri seats respectively. Eighteen AIADMK MLAs loyal to Dhinakaran were disqualified in 2017 by Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal for revolting against Chief Minister K Palaniswami. Dhinakaran also announced the second list of candidates for the April 18 byelections scheduled for 18 assembly seats in the state, mainly caused by the disqualification of the AIADMK MLAs.

Sasikala-backed Edappadi Palaniswami to be Tamil Nadu CM

Palaniswami invited by governor to form government

SPECIAL WEEKEND NEWS All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Legislative Party Chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, who has the backing of the jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, will take oath as the Tamil Nadu chief minister on Thursday evening. The development comes after he was invited by the state's acting Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to form the government. Palaniswami has been given 15 days to prove his majority.

According to media reports, the swearing-in will happen at 4.30 pm at Raj Bhavan. Palaniswami will be the 21st chief minister of Tamil Nadu. 

Tamil Nadu's MLAs and ministers have stayed away from their offices for eight days in a row due to the political crisis in the state, which has resulted in the state's administration grinding to a halt.

The governor's decision on the issue had been pending as the verdict in the disproportionate assets case against AIADMK general secretary Sasikala, who was a claimant to the chief minister's chair, was due to be announced by the Supreme Court. Since the apex court delivered its verdict on Tuesday, restoring Sasikala's conviction and sentence, her hopes of occupying the top seat have been shattered.

Earlier in the day, Palaniswami's chances of becoming the chief minister had looked bright, since he was backed by Sasikala and claimed the majority support from AIADMK MLAs. 

On Wednesday, Sasikala and two of her relatives surrendered in a Bengaluru court to serve the remaining three years, 10 months and 27 days sentence in a Karnataka prison.

Before she left Chennai, Sasikala appointed her sister's son T T V Dinakaran, who was dismissed by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, as the party's deputy secretary. The position had been vacant for nearly 17 years.

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The Sasikala gameplan for guilty verdict: Quickly nominate a new CM for TN

AIADMK's strategy is to dissuade the governor from inviting Panneerselvam to take a floor test

 

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a trial court order finding All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary VK Sasikala guilty in an illegal wealth case that dates back two decades. The verdict, which will mean Sasikala going back to jail and being debarred from public office for nearly a decade, upends political calculations at a time when she is caught in a tussle with interim chief minister O Panneerselvam for control of the party and the government.

A bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amatava Roy upheld the trial court judgment in which Sasikala and the late Jayalalithaa were found guilty of amassing over Rs 63 crores in assets disproportionate to their known sources of income during the latter’s tenure as chief minister between 1991 and 1996. The proceedings against Jayalalithaa would be abated because of her death on December 5. BREAKING NEWS 

In 2014, a trial court in Bengaluru – where the proceedings were moved on the Supreme Court’s orders – had found Jayalalithaa and Sasikala guilty along with the latter’s relatives Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran, and sentenced them to four years imprisonment. The conviction had forced Jayalalithaa to step down as chief minister under rules disqualifying convicted politicians from holding office or contesting elections. But the following year, the Karnataka High Court had acquitted all of them. The Karnataka government, which is the prosecutor in the case, had appealed in the Supreme Court, which will decide Sasikala’s fate at 10.30 am on Tuesday.

Officials of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam told Scroll.in that strategies “for all possible scenarios” had been put in place before the verdict. Sasikala spent the night at the Golden Bay Resorts in Kancheepuram, where 128 MLAs owing allegiance to her have been staying for the past five days. Panneerselvam – who had stepped down as chief minister to make way for Sasikala on February 5, only to rebel against her two days later – has alleged that the MLAs are being held there against their will. He has also said he was coerced into resigning and has challenged Sasikala’s election as leader of the AIADMK’s legislative party by petitioning the governor, Vidyasagar Rao. Since then, at least eight MLAs and 11 parliamentarians have shifted to the Panneerselvam faction.

The plan for a potential conviction on Tuesday – making her ineligible to become chief minister – was to have the MLAs on her side elect a new leader of the legislative party nominated by her. Senior leader KA Sengotaiyan has emerged as the frontrunner in such a scenario.

Sasikala’s plans

Sensing the growing support for Panneerselvam in the party, Sasikala made an emotional appeal to MLAs on Sunday, blaming misogyny in Tamil Nadu politics for the attacks on her. Dragging the Union government into the mess indirectly, she said there were forces out to destroy the AIADMK. “But let me assure you, from Chennai to Delhi, there is no one capable of shaking this party,” she said, adding that Panneerselvam was working in collusion with the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

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