Dinakaran believed that with his aunt Sasikala lodged in jail for seven year, it was his best and the only chance to become the state's chief minister

AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran has revealed during questioning that it was sheer desperation to win the party symbol of 'two leaves' and the burning desire to become Tamil Nadu Chief Minister that drove him to try and bribe the Election Commission officials, according to media reports.

A report in DNA stated that Dinakaran believed that with his aunt VK Sasikala lodged in jail for seven year, it was his best and the only chance to become the state's chief minister; it was this desperation that drove him to take the step.

The story unfurled on Monday night, when the arrest of an alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar from a Delhi hotel opened a can of worms. He was already battling a corruption lawsuit, warding off charges of bribing voters in the recently canned RK Nagar bypolls, and facing tough political resistance from the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK, all at the same time.

However, Chandrasekhar's arrest brought in fresh troubles for Dinakaran as the former claimed he was in touch with the AIADMK leader, who had asked him to bribe EC officials for a favourable ruling in the AIADMK symbol row case.

The controversial AIADMK leader, however, was not aware of middleman Chandrasekhar's true identity and was under the impression that he was a high court judge who could help him win the party symbol, as the latter assured him that he had contacts with Election Commission officials, he told the police.

The disgraced AIADMK leader had maintained earlier that he did not know Chandrasekar at all. He, however, succumbed to the excessive grilling and ended up giving contradictory answers. The police then confronted him with substantial evidence, following which he confessed to having paid Chandrasekhar Rs 10 Crore in first installment and route the remaining Rs 50 crore through hawala channels, The Times of India reported.

The police said the accused were in touch with Kochi- and Old Delhi-based hawala operators who transferred the money to Chandrasekhar. Dinakaran's personnel assistant Janardhanan was also questioned and asked if he knew Chandrasekhar.

The police is now trying to verify whether money actually changed hands between the conman and poll panel officials. A team of Delhi cops will also travel to Chennai with the accused, where the police will try to recover the mobile phones through which Dinakaran used to communicate with Chandrasekar and unearth the money trail used for the transactions.

The DNA report quoted earlier also stated that Chennai based businessmen have already confessed to investigating agency that they have been working with Dinakaran for a long time. In this case, the money was routed to Chandrasekhar via a Chennai based businessman on Dinakaran's aide, Mallikarjun's insistence.

The AIADMK (Amma) leader had come under the scanner of the police following Chandrasekar's arrest last week. Dinakaran, who was appointed deputy general secretary by Sasikala, has been isolated in his party amid moves to merge rival factions led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister EK Palaniswamy and his predecessor O Panneerselvam.

A powerful section of the ruling AIADMK (Amma) recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership. The development came after Panneerselvam, who is leading the rival faction, demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for merger talks.

With inputs from agencies