In a jolt to MDMK ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls due next year, senior leader and film producer S Dhanu today quit the party citing party chief Vaiko’s “high-handedness” and “lack of democracy“.
“Its not just me who is upset but most party workers who were inspired by your fiery speeches (and joined the party),” Mr. Dhanu, producer of Tamil films such as Kamal Hassan—starrer ’Aalavanthan’ and ‘Kaakha Kaakha,’ said in a four-page letter to Mr. Vaiko.
Mr. Dhanu joins a list of other senior leaders, such as L Ganesan, M Kannappan and N Ramakrishnan, who had earlier quit the party.
He alleged that Mr. Vaiko neither respected senior leaders nor “true party workers” and charged him with taking decisions that “smacked of high-handedness.”
Reports in a section of media had claimed that he did not invite Mr. Vaiko for his son’s wedding but extended invitations to DMK President and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, with whom MDMK has aligned.
Mr. Dhanu claimed that though he had intended to invite Mr. Vaiko first and then the others, the MDMK supremo had never responded to his calls on telephone and mobile.
He had invited the leaders for the wedding of his children at different times but Mr. Vaiko had no problems with it then, Mr. Dhanu said.
As the member of the party’s Parliamentary board, he had opposed the candidature of a person during last year’s Lok Sabha polls saying he was not a worthy candidate.
But Mr. Vaiko had told the very person (about his views) whose candidature he had opposed, Mr. Dhanu said, adding that he was quitting from all posts of the party.
