Aunt and nephew in jail: The dwindling sway of the Mannargudi family over AIADMK

His aunt Sasikala Natarajan, relatives Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran and now TTV Dinakaran himself, four members of the Mannargudi family are now behind bars. From attempting to take over the reigns of the AIADMK to landing behind bars, the family is now on the verge of being pushed into political oblivion. With them now practically out of the way, it now seems like it is advantage O Panneerselvam.

After four days of being questioned in the alleged Election Commission bribery case, Dinakaran was formally arrested by the Delhi police on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday. His aunt Sasikala Natarajan is lodged in the Bengaluru central prison after being convicted in a disproportionate assets case along with Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi. Incidentally, both Sasikala and Dinakaran attempted to take over the reigns of the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa's death and have now landed in prison.

Given the precarious political situation in Tamil Nadu, Dinakaran's arrest comes



as an advantage to the O Panneerselvam camp. While both factions have been speaking of a merger, the Panneerselvam camp has ben sceptical of the Edappadi Palanisamy camp's moves. The OPS camp suspected that the Edappadi camp acted at the behest of Dinakaran. Now with him being arrested, there may be more confidence in the Panneerselvam camp to call the shots.

For a party that was headed by Jayalalithaa for decades, no leader was groomed to take over after her. No leader is used to taking decisions or speaking in public. The leadership deficit is clearly visible now with the party breaking away into factions and multiple leaders from both camps making multiple yet contradictory statements, like a 'headless chicken'.

With Sasikala already in jail and now Dinakaran also arrested by Delhi police, the camps may hope to hold merger talks without 'outside interference'. With Dinakaran's arrest, Panneerselvam's bargaining power may have just received a boost.