Dhinakaran's attempts to break AIADMK will not fructify, says Palaniswami

The party will never allow "one family to rule" the state, he said.

Some conspired to wrest control of the party but the efforts have to be thwarted by the alert ruling party workers, Palaniswami said at an election rally here.

The AIADMK joint coordinator said the party has place only for the loyal and hardworking and even a worker with such attributes can become chief minister.

In his address, in an apparent reference to Dhinakaran, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader and nephew of expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, the chief minister alleged he had earlier also tried to topple the government and break the party.

"When I became CM in 2017 we were giving good rule. Some then tried to wean away a few of our MLAs from us. You know who that conspirator is, who tried to topple this government, break the party by dividing 18 persons," he said.

Eighteen AIADMK MLAs siding with Dhinakaran had rebelled against Palaniswami in 2017 after he merged his faction with that of now deputy CM O Panneerselvam.

However, the Amma (late CM J Jayalalithaa) government continued due to unity even as all efforts to destabilise it were countered, he said.

"He has started again. You know who it is-- TTV Dhinakaran. He was not in the party for ten years as Amma had expelled him even from primary membership but somehow he came back. Today he is conspiring (against AIADMK)," Palaniswami alleged.

AIADMK will never accept this, he said.

Palaniswami had on Tuesday also targeted Dhinakaran for his renewed assertion that efforts to 'retrieve' the AIADMK were on post Saikala's return to Tamil Nadu after serving a four year jail term in Bengaluru in a corruption case.

"Dhinakaran can never break the AIADMK, no matter how many avatars he takes. His dreams will not come true," the AIADMK veteran asserted.

"The AIADMK is a party of workers. Only a worker can become chief minister," he said.

The AIADMK grew due to hardwork of workers and it will "not bow" before "one family to rule" Tamil Nadu, he added.

Earlier, at an election rally in Ambut in Tirupathur, he lashed out at political parties seeking votes on the basis of religion and caste and said these were not the considerations of the AIADMK.

"Amma government will ensure protection to people of any religion and the state has been a haven of peace," he said.