Panneerselvam's masterstroke – Amma-MGR loyalist Madhusudhanan will contest from RK Nagar

Chennai: The battle for 'Amma' J Jayalalithaa's legacy entered the next phase on Thursday when the Panneerselvam camp announced that expelled senior AIADMK leader E Madhusudhanan will contest the RK Nagar by-poll against Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

Madhusudhanan was the AIADMK presidium chairman before he was removed from the post by Sasikala after he allied with OPS in the tense days ahead of the swearing-in of Palanaiswamy was the Chief Minister.

However, the OPS camp has contested his removal on the grounds that the election of Sasikala as general secretary itself was not as per the constitution of the party, hence any decision taken by her stands null and void.

Madhusudhanan is expected to give a tough fight to Dinakaran as he is a native of RK Nagar and had won the seat in the early 1990s during Jayalalithaa's first tenure as CM.

A staunch MGR loyalist, he is also well-respected as a party heavyweight.

“I'll win with more vote percentage than TTV Dhinakaran”, Madhusudhanan was quoted as saying.

It will also be interesting to observe Madhusudhan's choice of party symbol as the two leaves symbol of AIADMK remains with the Sasikala faction.AIADMK remains with the Sasikala faction.

Panneerselvam, after his dramatic meditation at Amma's memorial on the Marina Beach, had said “after Amma died, they (Sasikala camp) said Madhusudhan will become the general secretary. I agreed to become the Chief Minister only when they said Madhusudhan will become the general secretary.” But Madhusudhanan was later pressurised to not take up the post, he had alleged.