Dinakaran returns to Chennai, receives warm welcome by party members

Dinakaran claims that he would continue to work for the party. He said he will not step down unless the party general secretary asked him to. He was given bail by the Delhi High Court, which stated  that he was no longer required for custodial interrogation.

AIADMK faction leader TTV Dinakaran, after getting bail from the Delhi High Court, said that he would continue to work for the party unless the party general secretary herself asked him to step down. Dinakaran who was allegedly involved in the Election Commission bribery case and returned to Chennai on Saturday amid a rousing welcome put speculations at rest since the time he had distanced himself from the party work when in prison.

Dinakaran promised that he would prove his innocence in the case and will decide on the next course of action only after meeting with Sasikala who is in Bengaluru prison.Speaking to media channels, he said, "Only the party chief has the powers to remove me. I will continue the work for my party after returning to Chennai."

The Delhi High Court granted bail to Dinakaran and his aide Mallikarjuna stating that they were no longer required for custodial interrogation. Meanwhile, supporting Dinakaran, environmental minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan said, "What he (Dinakaran) has said is 100% correct. He has not been removed from the party and only the party general secretary has the authority to do so. Dinakaran himself declared about distancing from the party."

On April 18, in a bid to merge with their warring faction, the senior ministers of AIADMK decided to expel party general secretary V K Sasikala and her nephew Dinakaran. To this, Dinakaran said that he would have stepped down anyways since the party had sidelined him. Meanwhile, municipal administration minister S P Velumani said that it was chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami who only could decide whether Dinakaran would continue to function in the office of AIADMK.