Sasikala Natarajan, estranged aide of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, on Saturday deposed before a special court in Bengaluru in the wealth case against them, absolving the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo of any responsibility in the handling of companies in which the two were partners.
The O Panneerselvam-led AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee has withdrawn from the BJP-led NDA coalition, a year after joining. The move follows meetings between Panneerselvam and DMK Chief Minister M K Stalin, fueling speculation about future alliances.
AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has ruled out the possibility of re-inducting expelled leaders like O Panneerselvam, stating that those who "betrayed" the party have no place in it. He also praised the BJP-led Centre for protecting the AIADMK government in 2017.
Party spokesperson RM Babu Murugavel tweeted a communication from the EC to Palaniswami and said it had "accepted" the amendments to the AIADMK bylaws, the general secretary election and the appointment of new office-bearers.
The decision was taken after a discussion between the disqualified legislators and Dhinakaran in Madurai.
A search operation was launched in the office block and a room used by jailed and deposed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V K Sasikala
The deposed coordinator, heading a small faction, hopes to consolidate Amma (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa) loyalists to unify the AIADMK factions aiming to coerce another former Chief Minister K Palaniswami, heading the dominant faction, to accept dual leadership in the party.
The high court heard a plea by Pannnerselvam's aides on Sunday against the election to the powerful general secretary post, scheduled to be held on March 26.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Thursday once again unanimously adopted the bill to ban online gambling, weeks after state Governor R N Ravi had returned it to the government for its reconsideration.
However, the EC is yet to make an official announcement in this regard.
Justice Arumughaswamy said the 500 page report in English was prepared after hearing about 150 witnesses. The Tamil version ran up to 608 pages.
The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday filed a nearly 3,000-page charge sheet against Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji as part of a continuing money laundering investigation against him and his aides, official sources said.
In a further setback to deposed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam, the Madras high court on Friday dismissed his appeals against the 2022 general council meet of the party, which among others had elected his rival Edappadi K Palaniswami as interim chief, besides expelling OPS and his aides.
A bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta admitted the appeal filed by Ravindhranath against the high court order for hearing and issued notice to P Milany, who filed the petition challenging his election from the Theni constituency.
The Madras high court on Thursday declared invalid the 2019 election of expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kaahagam member O P Ravindhranath from Tamil Nadu's Theni constituency.
Sasikala left Chennai on Thursday morning by a car which had to halt at several locations till it reached the Bengaluru highway as party cadres gathered to greet her.
Fighting as an independent, Dinakaran was up against ruling AIADMK's E Madhusudanan and DMK's N Maruthu Ganesh.
Already, the party brass had passed a resolution against admitting her into the organisation and it was seconded by the party's district units across the state, Palaniswami said.
Incidentally, Pannerselvam's call for unity also pertained to deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.
The Chief Minister Palaniswami camp, however, blamed the Sasikala family for the raids.
Undisclosed income has been detected in respect of 10 assessee groups which included those linked to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala.
She visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at a hospital in Chennai, on all five days of her parole period.
Asserting that the dharma yudham is on, Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS said he and his followers would go to the people to seek justice.
The court rejected all petitions, including that against the conduct of the party's General Secretary election.
Dinakaran said he was revealing the information now since Panneerselvam was being critical of him in public fora, even while making efforts to mend fences.
Clad in black shirts, AIADMK coordinator Pannneerselvam and co-coordinator Palaniswami led a silent march
The Madras high court on Thursday ordered issuing notice to deposed All Indi Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam and his relatives on a criminal revision case initiated on its own, relating to their discharge in a disproportionate wealth case by a trial court in 2012.
Following is the course of events in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and 2 others.
The searches at the Tamil television channel were conducted over alleged tax evasion.
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