Chennai:
Days after she expelled her close aide Sasikala and 13 others from the party, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa removed two more relatives of her former confidante from the primary membership of the party on Thursday. Sasikala's brother-in-law M Palanivel and another relative Kaliyaperumal were expelled from the AIADMK today.
Sources in the party said Sasikala and her family members were expelled because they were allegedly interfering in political and administrative matters. In a statement here, Jayalalithaa directed her party workers not to have any links with the two.
Earlier, Sasikala's husband M Natarajan and Jayalalithaa's disowned foster son V N Sudhakaran have been among those who have been expelled. The move is seen as an attempt by Jayalalithaa to nip in the bud reported moves by Sasikala's family to dominate the party and influence the AIADMK government.
This is the second time that Jayalalithaa has distanced herself from Sasikala, considered a power centre in the party. In 1996, she distanced herself from Sasikala when the two of them were arrested by the DMK government. However, both of them patched up later.