Chennai, July 6 (IANS): The AIADMK leadership has expelled nine middle-level functionaries of the party for having openly issued support to former interim general secretary of the party, V.K. Sasikala.

Sasikala was expelled from the party in 2017.

A press statement by the AIADMK state committee office on Monday evening said that party functionaries from Salem, Kallakurichi and Thoothukudi districts of the party units were expelled for lending support to Sasikala.

The statement said that the party would be holding a meeting of all district secretaries and other office bearers at the party head office on July 9 to discuss the electoral debacle. The party is also planning an offensive against Sasikala and her outreach to party office bearers and leaders in several rural districts of the state.

It may be recalled that just before the 2021 Assembly elections, Sasikala had announced that she was quitting active politics and that she would pray for the return of the "Golden rule of Amma (Jayalalithaa)".

After her return to Tamil Nadu from the Bangalore Central prison where she was lodged for the past four years since 2017, she had announced her active involvement in state politics. Her nephew TTV Dhinakaran had floated a political outfit Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and was expected to lead that party and later take over AIADMK. However, suddenly she announced her withdrawal from politics.

After the electoral rout of the AIADMK, the former interim general secretary is back in action and has been reaching out to lower and mid-level leaders as well as senior leaders who are in the retirement mode, including former ministers and MPs.

Political pundits were of the opinion that Sasikala was planning to create a wedge between Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam and had been subtly raising the caste factor. Both Sasikala and Panneerselvam are from the Thevar community while Edappadi Palaniswami is a Gounder.