Chennai: Keeping up the heat on Chief Minister K Palaniswami, sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Tuesday effected more changes in the party, even as his uncle V Divakaran claimed the AIADMK government has lost majority and questioned the "delay" by the Governor in acting against it.
In a related development, three alliance party MLAs of the AIADMK held discussions and met both Palaniswami as well as the Opposition Leader, DMK Working President MK Stalin.
They also met Dhinakaran.
The MLAs said Palaniswami should hold talks with dissident MLAs of the Dhinakaran camp in the interest of AIADMK and its government.
Earlier, Dhinakaran sacked three more party district secretaries, including a Minister, from their posts.
He replaced the district secretaries of Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai, a day after a party meeting chaired by Palaniswami declared that the former had been removed from the deputy chief post on August 10 itself, with his supporters.
Yesterday's meeting had also said that changes made by Dhinakaran, who is engaged in an all out tussle with Palaniswami to wrest control of AIADMK, in the party posts were invalid.
Dhinakaran, who is claiming the support of 21 party MLAs and seeking removal of Palaniswami as Chief Minister, also appointed former minister Parithi Elamvazhuthy as the party's Organisation Secretary.
He announced removal of Industries Minister M C Sampath and Lok Sabha member A Arunmozhithevan as the Cuddalore East and West district secretaries respectively.
Incidentally, the 'sacked' party leader replaced Sampath with V T Kalaiselvan, the party's Vriddhachalam MLA, who had recently joined the Dhinakaran camp.
Arunmozhithevan had recently spoken out in public against Dhinakaran, nephew of jailed party chief V K Sasikala.
Dhinakaran also removed K Rajan as the party's Tiruvannamalai (South) district secretary, besides sacking a functionary from the unit's Puratchi Thalaivi Amma Peravai, a forum named after the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
He appointed his supporters to all the posts.
All the appointments were being made with the approval of Sasikala, Dhinakaran said.
Dhinakaran, who had earlier set a 60-day deadline for the merger of two factions led by Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam, has been effecting a shake up in party ranks ever since the formal merger of the two camps on August 21.
He had, among others, removed Palaniswami himself and senior Ministers P Thangamani and SP Velumani from various party posts, appointing his supporters in their place.
Even after yesterday's party meeting, he had announced some changes in the party posts.
Meanwhile, Divakaran, brother of Sasikala, claimed that the government has lost its majority and wondered why Governor Ch Vidysagar Rao had not taken any action so far.
"This government has lost its majority. Don't know why the Governor is still delaying. Either the chief minister or the corrupt cabinet should be changed. He (Rao) is not doing anything and delaying things," he told reporters at Thiruvarur.
The Governor not acting would " pave the way for horse trading," he claimed.
On August 22, 19 pro-Dhinakaran MLAs had revolted against the chief minister and knocked at the doors of the Governor to remove Palaniswami from the post.
They had said they had no intentions of pulling down the government but have remained adamant on changing Palaniswami as Chief Minister.
They have been since backing the candidature of state Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal for the post.
Meanwhile, pro-Dhinakaran MLA Thangatamilselvan claimed that the camp now had the support of 25 legislators.
"We will soon show 40 of them," he told reporters, suggesting that more MLAs could come to the Dhinakaran camp.
Earlier in the day, AIADMK's three allies, Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaignar Peravai, Mukkulathor Pulippadai and Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi (MJK), held discussions here.
Each outfit has one MLA but they are categorised as AIADMK in the Assembly records as they contested and won from the ruling party's Two Leaves symbol in the 2016 elections.
U Thaniarasu of Kongu Ilaignar Peravai said the AIADMK leaders should not "give in" to external pressure and ensure a strong party and government in the interest of Tamil Nadu.
He said talks should be held between the two warring camps of AIADMK and suggested that Palaniswami could also accommodate some of the dissident MLAs in the cabinet to end the impasse.
Thamimun Ansari of MJK said the three MLAs "discussed in detail" the prevailing situation and urged the two factions of the ruling party to hold talks and end the confrontation.
Karunas of Mukkulathor Pulippadai is the other MLA.
Thaniarasu said the trio will decide on the trust vote when the need arises.
The three legislators later met Palaniswami and Stalin, and thanked them for their roles in granting of a 30-day ordinary leave for A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
They had earlier raised the issue of granting parole to Perarivalan in and outside the Tamil Nadu Assembly, with DMK extending supporting to their demand.
