Chaos outside AIADMK office, Sasikala Pushpa's lawyer attacked

CHENNAI: Ugly clashes broke out at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai on Wednesday on the eve of party’s general council meeting when Rajya Sabha member Sasikala Pushpa ’s husband Lingeswara Thilagam and lawyers arrived there to submit nomination papers for the post of party general secretary.Sasikala is an expelled member of the AIADMK. She was expelled from the AIADMK after her outbursts in Parliament against the party leadership on August 1.Sasikala Pushpa’s husband, lawyers and supporters suffered injuries as party cadre beat them badly on Wednesday afternoon.The incident happened a day before the party’s general council meeting that would elect party’s general secretary.Anticipating the arrival of Sasikala and others at the headquarters, senior functionaries and former ministers began to assemble outside the party headquarters by 1pm. Security was beefed up, and both ends of Lloyds Road were barricaded.Hell broke out when Sasikala’s husband and others entered the office to submit the nomination papers. The staff refused to accept the papers saying senior staffs were not present. “Sasikala Pushpa, her husband and a general council member, K S Mani, from Mumbai wanted to file the nomination papers,” said an insider.Soon the crowd pounced on Sasikala’s husband and supporters and beat them black and blue.Later, police rescued them and took them away. They were bleeding.Sources told TOI that Sasikala Pushpa was sitting in a car outside the headquarters when the clashes happened.Reacting to the violence, Tamil Nadu municipal administration minister S P Velumani told a Tamil television channel that Sasikala Pushpa had no locus standi to stake a claim to the AIADMK leadership . "Who is she? She has no links with the party. She was expelled by Amma (former chief minister J Jayalalithaa). There is no doubt that Chinnamma (V K Sasikala) will take over as party general secretary. This is a unanimous demand of partymen and the desire of 1.5crore partymen."AIADMK spokesman Avadi Kumar said, "The violence was instigated to deliberately create a ruckus on the eve of the party general council meeting."