4 former AIADMK ministers, 6 ex-MLAs join TVK, cite lack of respect

THe book of exodus of prominent faces from the All republic of india Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) continued on sat, with tetrad former ministers and vi former MLAs joining the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), citing lack of respect and discipline.The four former lawmakers — Kadambur Raju, Udumalai Radhakrishnan, M C Sampath, N R Sivapathy — joined the ruling party in the presence of TVK general secretary N Anand and general secretary for election campaign management Aadhav Arjuna at the party’s office in Chennai. .Six former AIADMK MLAs — Sundararaj (Sankagiri), Rajamuthu (Veerapandi), Manraj (Srivilliputhur), Rajavarman (Sathur), Panneerselvam (Kalasapakkam), Govindasamy (Pappiratipatti) -- and their supporters have also joined TVK. Similarly, former MP A Ilavarasan also joined the TVK and two former DMK MLAs -- P Kamaraj and M S Shanmugam — have also joined the ruling party.Udumalai Radhakrishnan, who served as a minister in the late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s cabinet, said he took the decision because party leaders had faced several issues under the leadership of the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami over the last five years.“We only need respect and we do not need any other posts,” he said, adding that the AIADMK maintained a “strict discipline” only during the late Jayalalithaa’s regime.“Today, we have proudly joined the TVK with full satisfaction. It is a family event for us,” he said, adding that many more AIADMK functionaries would join the party.Former minister NR Sivapathy, who had served in the AIADMK for more than 40 years, said, “Just when we were thinking about where to go, we ended up joining the TVK today.”MC Sampath, in his address, said, “For the past nine years (following Jayalalithaa’s demise), our presence in the AIADMK was merely in name only.”Paying rich encomiums to TVK president and chief minister C Joseph Vijay, he said, “The TVK administration functions as a transparent government.”Besides the AIADMK leaders, a former lawmaker from the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), Murugan (Ramanathapuram), also joined the TVK on Saturday.Since the May 4 assembly election result, the AIADMK has been facing a series of setbacks. First, a rebel group of 25 MLAs supported a motion of confidence moved by CM C Joseph Vijay on the floor of the Assembly on May 13, violating the party whip to vote against the motion.On May 25, four AIADMK MLAs — Maragadham Kumaravel, Jayakumar, Sathyabama, and Isakki Subaya — joined the TVK within days of being elected to the assembly. Recently, former AIADMK minister Vellamandi N Natarajan and former Mylapore MLA R Natraj joined the TVK.Welcoming the new cadres, Aadhav Arjuna also said, “We are all one family. This party doesn’t have ‘competition and jealousy’ among the members. I can see the whole AIADMK here.”The opposition parties, however, took potshots at the ruling TVK government, accusing it of being involved in “horse-trading.”“Those who projected themselves as a clean force have now been exposed. They have become a tragic force,” said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and former chief minister MK Stalin, alleging that the TVK had engineered the resignations and defections of AIADMK MLAs.AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami termed the developments “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 induction into the TVK exposed a “premeditated plan” involving “horse-trading.”TVK minister KA Sengottaiyan dismissed the charges, saying, “Horse-trading did not take place in the TVK. Even I tendered my resignation as a lawmaker and later joined the party.”He added, “People have tendered their resignations and joined the TVK; it was of their own free will. Those who left (the AIADMK) came to the TVK after that. I did not persuade anyone to join. Even 25 people (the AIADMK MLAs) extended their support to the TVK of their own free will in the State Assembly.”