Tamizhkudimagan joins AIADMK

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI, APRIL 1. The State Minister for HR and CE, Mr. M. Tamizhkudimagan, whose constituency was allotted by the DMK to an allied party, today quit the Cabinet and joined the AIADMK.

Mr. Tamizhkudimagan, who met the AIADMK general secretary, Ms. Jayalalitha, at her residence, was immediately enrolled as a primary member of the AIADMK along with a large number of his supporters.

Later, after the 45-minute meeting with Ms. Jayalalitha, he told reporters that the DMK had ``deliberately'' allotted his Ilayankudi constituency to an allied party to deny him a ticket in the coming election.

Claiming that the distribution of the DMK ticket was being decided by Mr. M.K. Stalin, the son of the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, he said he was not given ``due respect'' in the DMK. Mr. Stalin, he added, was being groomed to succeed Mr. Karunanidhi as chief minister.

Rather than contest as an independent, he wanted to join a major party. Asked whether he had sought an AIADMK ticket in Ilayankudi, he said he had left it to Ms. Jayalalitha to decide.

Reacting to Mr. Tamizhkudimagan's joining the AIADMK, Mr. Karunanidhi said ``For 15 years, he has been my good friend and worked to my satisfaction as Speaker of the State Assembly and as a Minister. I thank him for that and have nothing more to say.''

Asked about Mr. Tamizhkudimagan referring to the undue importance given to Mr. Stalin in the DMK, Mr. Karunanidhi said ``Whenever Ms. Jayalalitha weans away someone from the DMK, it has become customary for her to ask them to issue such a statement.''

Mr. Karunanidhi said the resignation letter had been forwarded to the Governor.

Party sources said Mr. Tamizhkudimagan started to feel uneasy from the time his Ilayangudi constituency was allotted to the Makkal Tamil Desam.

He even toyed with the idea of contesting as an independent. Mr. Karunanidhi counselled patience and offered to give him a seat elsewhere. But he decided to join the AIADMK.

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