At least 10 AIADMK candidates announced in the second list released by the party on Wednesday, 10 March, were sacked as ministers or party functionaries by the former General Secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
One of the oft-repeated statements by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and other AIADMK ministers after the demise of J Jayalalithaa in December 2016 is that the government and the party is run in her name. However, several AIADMK party men including former ministers who were sidelined by Jayalalithaa have been given seats under the administration of Edappadi K Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam.
Here’s a list of few such politicians who were sacked or removed from various positions in the capacity of an AIADMK party functionary and have been given a chance to contest in the 6 April polls by the current dispensation of the party.
BV Ramanaa
Former Minister for Milk and Dairy Development in Jayalalithaa’s government, BV Ramanaa was sacked days after his private photos with a woman went viral on social media in February 2016. He was also dropped from the post of AIADMK’s District Secretary. According to reports, he was sacked for causing embarrassment to the party. BV Ramanaa was sacked by Jayalalithaa once before this incident but he was brought back by her. He did not contest in the 2016 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and his constituency was won by DMK.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, BV Ramanaa will contest from Thiruvallur constituency.
Madhavaram V Murthy
Madhavaram V Murthy held the portfolio of Milk and Dairy Development before he was dropped from the government by Jayalalithaa in 2014. He was replaced by BV Ramanaa. In 2016 elections, Murthy did not contest in his constituency Madhavaram, which was won by the DMK. On behalf of the AIADMK, D Dhakshinamurthy contested from Madhavaram seat in the 2016 elections.
In the 2021 Assembly polls, Madhavaram V Murthy will contest from Madhavaram constituency.
TKM Chinnayya
Months before the 2016 elections, Jayalalithaa dropped TKM Chinnayya, the then state Minister for Animal Husbandry. She also removed him from the post of Secretary of Kancheepuram (East) district in the AIADMK. Chinnayya became a minister in Jayalalithaa’s government in 2011 after he won from the Tambaram Assembly constituency. He, however, did not contest in the 2016 elections and C Rajendran took his place as the AIADMK candidate in Tambaram Assembly constituency.
TKM Chinnayya will contest from Tambaram constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
MSM Anandan
MSM Anandan won the 2011 elections from the Tiruppur North constituency. He was the Forest Minister in Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet and was dropped in May 2015. However, he was re-inducted as the Forest Minister by her in August 2015. Though no reason was officially stated for his removal as the minister, reports said that he was linked with a woman in Tirupur, which was brought to the attention of Jayalalithaa. The woman had also allegedly filed a police complaint against Anandan in Tirupur.
He did not contest in the 2016 polls and was replaced by AIADMK by KN Vijayakumar, who went on to win the seat.
Anandan will contest from Palladam Assembly constituency in the upcoming polls.
S Damodaran
A veteran politician, S Damodaran was elected from the Kinathukadavu constituency in 2001, 2006, and 2011. He was a minister in Jayalalithaa’s government in 2001 and was given the portfolio of Agriculture in 2011. He was sacked by Jayalalithaa in 2014.
In the 2016 elections, he was replaced by A Shanmugam of the AIADMK who went on to win the constituency.
In the upcoming Assembly elections, Damodaran will contest from Kinathukadavu constituency.
Natham R Viswanathan
The former minister was stripped of his post as AIADMK Organising Secretary and party spokesperson by J Jayalalithaa in September 2016 after Income Tax raids in his residence. He had assumed charge of these two posts after he lost the 2016 Assembly polls in Athoor constituency to DMK. After the polls, he was sacked as the Dindigul District Secretary and was appointed to the two posts. In July 2020, Natham Viswanathan was brought back as the head of Dindigul East district unit of the AIADMK.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, Natham Viswanathan will contest from Natham Assembly constituency.
Gokula Indira
Former state Minister for Tourism Gokula Indira assumed office in 2011 and was sacked in 2013 allegedly due to underperformance. She was then re-inducted into the government in May 2014 by Jayalalithaa. She lost the 2016 Assembly polls to DMK’s MK Mohan. She, in January 2021, created a flutter in AIADMK when she spoke highly of VK Sasikala. She said that Sasikala lived a life of penance with ‘Amma’ (Jayalalithaa), which ended up angering several party men. However, she later clarified that her comments were not an attempt to patch AIADMK, AMMK, and Sasikala.
In 2021, she will contest from Anna Nagar constituency.
Agri Krishnamoorthy
Agri SS Krishnamoorthy was sacked from his post as the state Minister for Agriculture in March 2015 for allegedly driving a government officer to suicide. He was also removed from his post of the Secretary of Thiruvannamalai South due to the same reason. A month later, he was arrested for his role in the official’s death and was sent to judicial custody in Palayamkottai jail. He later came out on bail in June 2015.
He was first elected from the Kalasapakkam constituency in 2006 and was re-elected in 2011. However, in 2016, he was replaced by V Panneerselvam who emerged the winner in Kalasapakkam. In 2021, SS Krishnamoorthy will contest from Polur constituency.
M Paranjothi
M Paranjothi was first elected into the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 2006 as part of the DMK. However, in 2011, he won the bye-elections in Tiruchirapalli West constituency as an AIADMK candidate and was given the post of the Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE). Paranjothi resigned from his post in December 2011 after allegations of cheating came up against him. He had also stepped down as the Secretary of Trichy Urban unit of the AIADMK. As per reports, a government doctor in Trichy had filed a police complaint accusing him of cheating her.
Based on her complaint, an FIR under sections 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation), 294 (b) (uttering obscene words), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Women Harassment Act was registered against Paranjothi and two others.
In 2016, he was not fielded as a candidate by the AIADMK and the constituency was won by KN Nehru of the DMK. In 2021 Assembly polls, Paranjothi will contest from Manachanallur constituency.
Vaigai Chelvan
Vaigai Chelvan rose to fame after he defeated the DMK’s veteran leader KKSSR Ramachandran in 2011 in the Aruppukottai constituency. He took charge as the state Minister for School Education in 2013 and less than six months later, on Teachers’ Day, he was sacked. He was also removed from his party post of Secretary of AIADMK’s Youth Wing. No reason was cited for his removal from the posts.
In 2016, he was defeated by Ramachandran in Aruppukottai and in 2018, Vaigai Chelvan was appointed an AIADMK spokesperson. In the upcoming polls, Vaigai Chelvan will contest from the Aruppukottai constituency.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission)
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