Stung by the bypoll defeat, the ruling AIADMK removed nine party supporters of Dhinakaran, who recently took oath as MLA from RK Nagar constituency.
Dhinakaran had recently secured a vigorous win in R K Nagar bypoll by defeating its candidate E Madhusudhanan by a margin of over 40,000 votes.
The RK Nagar constituency went to polls on December 21, necessitated by the death of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December last year.
Dhinakaran, sidelined by the ruling camp (EPS-OPS) a few months ago, contested the election as an independent candidate on a ‘pressure cooker’ symbol.