PMK founder’s allegations are inconsistent: Anbumani camp

ADaylight after Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) beginner S Ramadoss filed a complaint against his boy, company leader and former unification minister Anbumani Ramadoss, alleging eavesdropping through a bugging device placed at his residence, the latter’s supporters defended him.Party spokesperson K Balu, recently removed from his post as president of Samooga Needhi Peravai, the advocates’ forum founded by Ramadoss, said that the PMK founder has been inconsistent and made various contradictory statements on the eavesdropping issue.“If you see, first he said he doesn’t know who has installed a bugging device in his house, then he said event media houses may have installed, yesterday he said Anbumani has installed,” Balu told reporters. “We will wait for the investigation. That will bring out the truth.”Anbumani has so far not issued any response to his father’s allegations.Meanwhile, the father and son have announced separate general council meetings on August 17 and August 9 respectively, leaving party cadre in a tough spot.“If there is a son who spied on his own father, it is Anbumani,” Ramadoss said on Saturday.“He has eavesdropped on me. I have filed a complaint with the police about the bugging device found in my house. We have handed over the equipment to the police. I have also hired a special agency to find out who is behind this,” added the PMK founder.Ramadoss also dismissed the General council meeting convened by his son as illegal.After Ramadoss called on chief minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday to inquire about the latter’s health post his recent hospitalisation episode, there was reportedly speculation that he would seek an alliance with the ruling party in the lead-up to the 2026 assembly elections.PMK has historically shifted allegiances constantly between the DMK and AIADMK. An influential party in Tamil Nadu with a 5% core vote bank from the Vanniyar community, it is presently a key ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).Disagreements between the father and son over party leadership flared up in December 2024.On May 29, Ramadoss said that he wanted the party to align with the AIADMK but that Anbumani insisted that they remain in the NDA.He also said that he regretted making Anbumani a Union minister (in the UPA-I government) when the latter was only 35 years old.Ramadoss also said in his May 29 interview that he had realised Anbumani’s intentions to take over the party during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in 2014, when the latter told him that he would take care of the party.Ambumani was made president of the PMK in 2023.To be clear, Ramadoss was only confirming on record what has been known off the record ever since the AIADMK left the BJP in 2023 before patching up this April.After the split, those in the NDA including PMK stayed with the BJP, with only the DMDK (Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam) taking the AIADMK’s side.On April 11, the 85-year-old patriarch again took over the party from Anbumani. He declared himself president and announced that Anbumani would be its working president. The following day, Union home minister Amit Shah, during a campaign visit to the state, announced that the BJP and AIADMK had resolved their differences and would fight the 2026 elections together.