Noted lawyer and former AIADMK legislator Bader Sayeed joined the Congress party at the Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai on Saturday, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president Su. Thirunavukkarasar.
Ms. Sayeed, a schoolmate of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, was brought into politics by the late AIADMK chief, but they subsequently parted ways.
“I quit the AIADMK in 2011, even when Amma (Jayalalithaa) was there. My access to her was completely cut off, and I was not able to make any representations to her about the requirements of my constituency,” said Ms. Sayeed, who was elected to the Assembly from the Triplicane constituency on an AIADMK ticket in 2006. Prior to that, she unsuccessfully contested from the South Chennai Lok Sabha constituency in 2004.
Ms. Sayeed said that following the split in the AIADMK in the wake of Jayalalithaa’s death, she extended her support to Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. But her gesture was not reciprocated. “Anyway, there are so many leaders in the AIADMK,” said Ms. Sayeed, who has also held the post of chairperson of the Wakf Board. She was the first woman to hold the post.
“I decided to join the Congress as it is a national party and I am ready to do whatever task is to be assigned to me. I am well-versed in Hindi and this will be of use to the party,” she said.
