Nephew’s entry irks Anbumani; dissenters may leave, Sr Ramadoss' cue to son

CHENNAI: PMK’s special general council meeting in Puducherry on Saturday ended on a sour note as S Ramadoss, founder of the party, and his son and party president Anbumani Ramadoss had a rather uncomfortable exchange of words in front of hundreds of cadres.

In the end, Ramadoss, without directly mentioning his son, declared that anyone who is not in agreement with him is free to leave the party.

The annual event was uneventful until senior Ramadoss announced his grandson Mukundan Parasuraman as the president of the party's youth wing. Mukundan is the son of Ramadoss' daughter and Anbumani's nephew.

"To assist Anbumani, Mukundan is appointed as the youth wing president with immediate effect," Ramadoss announced at the meeting.

However, a livid Anbumani immediately refuted that he did not need Mukundan to assist him and added that his nephew joined the party only four months ago.

"What experience does he have in politics? Appoint someone with experience and who had worked in the field," he told his father.

In a casual way, Ramadoss reminded Anbumani as well as the cadres that the PMK was founded by him and everyone should abide by him. "No one will continue in the party if they do not listen to me. I say again, Mukundan has been appointed as the president of the youth wing," he reiterated. At this point, Anbumani murmured "alright, alright", only to be asked by the senior to "get out then. Anyone who does not agree can leave (the party)".

Anbumani stood up and announced that he has opened a new office in Panaiyur near Chennai and asked his supporters to meet him at his new office. He further shared the address and phone number of the new office, but did not openly declare whether he intended to float a new party or claim the existing one.

Cracks visible since LS polls

For those who have been closely following PMK and the Ramadoss family, the war of words between the father and son may not come as a surprise as rumours were making rounds that they have not been seeing eye to eye for the last few years. But no one would have expected the rift to turn ugly in front of the cadres.

Difference of opinion between Ramadoss and Anbumani was more palpable during the alliance negotiations for the recent Lok Sabha polls. While Ramadoss wanted to align with the AIADMK, Anbumani preferred to stay with the BJP-led alliance. Anbumani managed to convince the party to go with BJP and fielded his wife Sowmya Anbumani in the Dharmapuri constituency, but the decision proved to be disastrous for the party.

Party sources revealed that Ramadoss announced some protest against the state government after the Lok Sabha election failure without informing the president.

However, PMK MLA Arul Ramadas (Salem-West) downplayed the incident, saying there was no clash between the leaders. "Cadres have been demanding a party office near Chennai and the office is opened based on the demand. There is no difference of opinion between the leaders and it is the media that is blowing it out of proportion," he added.