Cracking the whip against the backdrop of her party losing in three Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa today relieved key party office-bearers of their posts in three districts. Party district secretaries in Kanyakumari (East and West), Dharmapuri and Puducherry had been relieved of their posts, Jayalalithaa in a statement here announced.
AIADMK won a landslide, bagging 37 of the 40 seats it contested in the April 24 LS elections, but lost to NDA candidates in Kanyakumari (won by BJP), Dharmapuri (PMK) and Puducherry (AINRC).
Those removed from party posts are A Sivaselvarajan and D John Thangam (Kanyakumari East and West respectively), KP Anbhazagan, MLA, (Dharmapuri) and A Anbazhagan, MLA, (Puducherry) and Jayalalithaa Peravai Secretary (Puducherry) Om Shakthi Sekar, MLA.
In another statement, Jayalalithaa announced removal of Revenue Minister BV Ramanaa from the post of Tiruvallur AIADMK North District Secretary. The axe fell on three district secretaries and the other apparently due to the defeat of the party. The reason for removal of Ramanaa was not known. Jaya had stressed on winning all the 40 constituencies in the polls and asked the party functionaries and workers to strive to achieve her goal.