Senior AIADMK leader and Rajya Sabha M.P. Dr. V. Maitreyan has submitted a petition to Rajya Sabha Secretary Deepak Verma reuesting him to disqualify 3 MPs of the Upper House who have been supporting Dinakaran, nephew of Sasikala.

Dinakaran had been operating independently ever since the AIADMK factions led by EPS and OPS merged to form a unified AIADMK almost two months back. 18 MLAs who wrote to Governor that they were not supporting Edapadi K. Palaniswami as chief-minister have since been disqualified by Speaker Dhanapal.  Dinakaran’s faction moved the Court against the Speaker’s decision and the matter is still sub-judice.

Vijila Satyanand, Navaneethakrishnan and Gokulakrishnan are the three Rajya Sabha MPs who have been supporting Dinakaran. Maitreyan’s petition refers to the trio by name and has asked the Rajya Sabha secretary to disqualify them for not falling in line with the party’s instructions.

Reacting to the petition, Navaneethakrishnan said that action can’t be taken against him as he hadn’t defected. “I’m neutral in my stance and I don’t support any faction of the party. I have been discharging my duties and responsibilities in a neutral manner and I informed this to the Election Commission recently,” he said.