The exodus of prominent faces from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) continued on Saturday, with four former ministers and six former ministers joining the ruling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), citing lack of respect and indiscipline.
The four former legislators – Kadambur Raju, Adumalai Radhakrishnan, MC Sampath and NR Sivapathi – joined the ruling party in the presence of TVK General Secretary N Anand and Election Campaign Management General Secretary Adhav Arjuna at the party office in Chennai. .
Six former AIADMK MLAs – Sundararaj (Sankagiri), Rajamuthu (Veerapandi), Manraj (Srivilliputhur), Rajavarman (Sathur), Panneerselvam (Kalasapakkam), Govindasamy (Pappiratipatti) – and their supporters also joined TVK. Likewise, former MP A Ilavarasan also joined TVK and two former DMK MLAs – P Kamaraj and MS Shanmugam – also joined the ruling party.
Udumalai Radhakrishnan, who served as a minister in the government of late AIADMK president J Jayalalithaa, said he took the decision because party leaders faced several issues under the leadership of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami over the last five years.
“We just need respect and don’t need any other positions,” he said, adding that the AIADMK maintained only “strict discipline” during the late Jayalalithaa’s regime.
“Today, we proudly join TVK with complete satisfaction. It is a family event for us,” he said, adding that many AIADMK workers will join the party.
“Just when we were thinking where to go, we ended up joining TVK today,” said former minister NR Sivapathi, who served in the AIADMK for over 40 years.
In his speech, MC Sampath said, “For the last nine years (after Jayalalithaa’s death), our presence in the AIADMK has been just in name.”
Paying high praise to TVK Chairman and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, he said, “TVK administration is working as a transparent government.”
Besides AIADMK leaders, former Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) legislator, Murugan (Ramanathapuram), also joined TVK on Saturday.
Since the assembly election result on May 4, the AIADMK has faced a series of setbacks. First, a rebel group of 25 MLAs supported a confidence motion moved by CM Joseph Vijay on the Assembly floor on May 13, violating the party whip to vote against the motion.
On May 25, four AIADMK MLAs — Maragadham Kumaravel, Jayakumar, Satyabama and Isaki Subbaiah — joined TVK within days of being elected to the Assembly. Recently, former AIADMK minister Vellamandi N Natarajan and former Mylapore MLA R Natraj joined TVK.
Welcoming the new cadres, Aadhav Arjuna also said: “We are all one family. This party has no ‘rivalry and jealousy’ among members. I can see the entire AIADMK here.”
However, opposition parties have sharply criticized the ruling TVK government, accusing it of engaging in “compromise”.
“Those who portrayed themselves as a clean force have now been exposed. They have become a disastrous force,” said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief and former Prime Minister M K Stalin, alleging that TVK planned the resignations and defections of AIADMK MLAs.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami termed the developments as “vulgar politics” and accused the ruling party of orchestrating a pre-planned operation to weaken the opposition.
He said the resignation of the MLAs and their subsequent joining of TVK revealed a “deliberate plan” involving “compromise”.
TVK Minister KA Sengottaiyan denied the accusations, saying, “No horse trading took place in TVK. I even resigned from my position as legislator and later joined the party.”
“People tendered their resignations and joined TVK; it was of their own volition. Those who left (AIADMK) came to TVK after that. I did not convince anyone to join. Even 25 people (AIADMK MLAs) extended their support to TVK of their own volition in the state assembly,” he added.
