The fall from grace of T T V Dinakaran, who was removed as party treasurer by Jayalalithaa earlier this week, means that Sasikala remains the only confidante of the AIADMK supremo to continue to be in her good books. In a party that begins and almost ends with the Puratchi Thalaivi, the question of who will be Amma’s successor has been an open one. While Jayalalithaa’s own family is out of the picture, it is Sasikala’s nephews — the children of her sister — who have always been believed to be the top contenders

The AIADMK hierarchy

• J Jayalalithaa, General Secretary

Brother: Jayakumar, but the siblings are not very close to each other

• Sasikala Natarajan, Jayalalithaa’s close friend

Husband: Natarajan. He is said to wield influence with his wife but, for all apparent purposes, Sasikala is separated from him and stays with Jayalalithaa

Brothers: Vinodahan, Diwakaran, Sundaravadhanan, Jayaraman

Sister: Vanithamani

Nephews: T T V Dinakaran, V N Sudhakaran and V Bhaskaran, sons of Vanithamani; V Mahadevan, son of Vinodahan

Nieces: Anuradha Dinakaran and Prabha Shivakumar, daughters of Sundaravad-hanan

During her first tenure as CM, in 1991-1996, Jayalalithaa adopted Sudhakaran as her foster son. Sudhakaran’s gala wedding to the grand-daughter of Sivaji Ganesan proved to be Amma's undoing. Jayalalithaa lost the 1996 Assembly election and many blamed the extravaganza for it. No sooner were the results out that Sudhakaran had been disowned by Jayalalithaa. Dinakaran and Bhaskaran soon wormed their way into Amma’s favour, but Bhaskaran fell by the wayside quickly enough.

The inner coterie

The names keep changing as Jayalalithaa never allows a single partyman to get too close to her. With one constant: none dares aspire for the general secretary's post.

• O Panneerselvam: Said to be close to Sasikala, with both hailing from the Thevar community. Served as CM in 2001, holding the chair for Jayalalithaa till she was cleared in corruption cases. Now has replaced Dinakaran as AIADMK treasurer

• D Jayakumar: Former Fisheries Minister and currently the secretary of the All World MGR Manram

• M Thambidurai: Former Union Minister, currently AIADMK propaganda secretary

editor@expressindia.com