AIADMK veteran Semmalai quits, ex-DMK min PTR takes a break

CHENNAI: Signs of unrest within Dravidian majors after the recent Tamil Nadu assembly poll debacle intensified Monday, even as DMK president MK Stalin and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) assured cadres the two parties would bounce back.

While AIADMK veteran S Semmalai quit after 45 years, former DMK minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan announced he was taking a short break from politics. Semmalai, who held multiple posts in AIADMK under MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, said he was leaving because of EPS’s “dictatorial approach” that was shrinking the party’s strength. The EPS camp dismissed his resignation as insignificant. DMK’s PTR said he would be travelling abroad for lectures and events he was unable to attend during his stint as minister.

He would utilise the time to write a book as well. In a parallel move, EPS mounted a fresh attack on the governing TVK, accusing CM Vijay’s party of indulging in horse trading and saying the new govt “would not last long”.