The editor of the AIADMK (Amma) mouthpiece Dr. Namadhu MGR, Marudhu Azhaguraj, who penned critical pieces on the BJP recently, has been sacked. The party daily is being administered by family members of V.K. Sasikala, the jailed AIADMK (Amma) “interim” general secretary.
Mr. Azhaguraj, who confirmed that he has been asked to go, told The Hindu on Wednesday that he had a sense of fulfilment in his job as he had served as the speech writer of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for nine years. He had also written the widely listened to first speech of Sasikala, which she delivered in December last year after taking charge as the “interim” general secretary.
“It was I who wrote the first speech of Sasikala,” said Mr. Azhaguraj adding, “I have written 41 statements for Mr. T.T.V. Dhinakaran including his Krishna Jayanthi greetings.”
He claims that he was removed from the post of editor on August 14 for penning a poem Kaavi Adi; Kazhagathai Azhi , accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeking to saffronise Tamil Nadu and destroy AIADMK. He used the pen name Chithirakupthan to write the poem.
He said Mr. Dhinakaran accused Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam of adopting a soft line towards the Centre.
“Now, he has pleased the Centre by removing me. Before addressing the public meeting at Melur, Mr. Dhinakaran announced it to the media (that old guards had independently written the poem) and the message (to leave) was conveyed to me by Poonguntran, another speech writer of Jayalalithaa,” Mr. Azhaguraj said.
‘Wrote Jaya’s lines too’
He said 10 days ago ‘Mandapam’ Sivakumar, a relative of Mr. Dhinakaran was appointed as the managing director of the publication. Before that Mr. Azhaguraj had held the posts of editor and managing director of the newspaper.
“When Sasikala and her family was removed from the party and sent out of Poes Garden in 2011, I was asked to hold the post of managing director instead of Mr. Sivakumar,” said Mr. Azhaguraj, a disciple of late Congress leader Vazhapadi Ramamurthi. He was later brought to AIADMK by former Speaker Kalimuthu and became the editor of the newspaper in 1998. Before that, he produced a programme Sange Muzhangu for Jaya TV .
“Whether it was her (Jayalalithaa) speech in Tiruchi or Srirangam or in Madurai, I wrote them. The lines that she loved the word Amma than her original name were penned by me. I preserve the letter of appreciation written by Amma . What else do I need?” he asked.
