A few hours after he met Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers M. K. Alagiri, AIADMK MLA L. Radhakrishnan, representing the Kovilpatti Assembly constituency, was removed from the post of Tuticorin district secretary of the J Jayalalithaa Peravai by party general secretary Jayalalithaa.
Later he arrived here and met Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at Anna Arivalayam, but evaded questions on whether he would join the DMK. Asked about his removal from the post, Mr. Radhakrishnan said he was not bothered about it.
Mr. Radhakrishnan met Mr. Alagiri in Madurai and submitted a memorandum seeking his help for the provision of basic amenities such as drinking water supply in his constituency.
“Rapid developments are taking place in many southern districts following Mr. Alagiri’s intervention. Be it Tiruchendur or Tirumangalam, people have benefited in the recent past. Keeping this in mind, I met the DMK leader only in the public interest,” Mr. Radhakrishnan maintained. He was with Mr. Alagiri for about 30 minutes, DMK sources said.
Stating that the AIADMK Whip in the Legislative Assembly did not accord permission to him to raise these issues in the last two years, Mr. Radhakrishnan said if he had been given a chance to do so, the Chief Minister would have taken note of the grievances and implemented developmental works in his constituency.
To a question whether he would quit as an MLA, he said the question did not arise: he was still with the AIADMK and had not joined the DMK.
Asked about possible action against him for meeting political rivals without permission, he said: “I’ll face it.”
Alagiri’s assurance
Mr. Alagiri told reporters that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi would certainly look into the grievances of MLAs irrespective of their party affiliations. “The DMK government will do everything that will benefit the common man.”
DMK MLA P. Moorthy and district secretary K. Thalapathi were present at the meeting. Mr. Radhakrishnan was provided police escort when he returned from Madurai, police sources said.
In 2006, S.V. Shanmugam, representing the Madurai West constituency, attended a function of Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. AIADMK MLAs pressed for his disqualification on the ground that he had voluntarily given up his membership of the political party which had put him up as a candidate. Former Minister Anitha R. Radhakrishnan, elected from the Tiruchendur constituency, and S.V. Sekar, representing the Mylapore constituency, were expelled from the AIADMK for their proximity to the DMK. Mr. Anitha Radhakrishnan subsequently quit as MLA and joined the DMK. He was re-elected from Tiruchendur on the DMK ticket. MDMK MLA Ramakrishnan, elected from the Cumbum constituency, joined the DMK and was re-elected on the DMK ticket.
