The former MLA V. Karuppasamy Pandian, who has been in and out of the AIADMK, rejoined the ruling party on Sunday.
Mr. Pandian, a three-time MLA from Tirunelveli district, was in the DMK until recently, before he called on party leaders O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K. Palaniswami at their respective residences on Sunday. Mr. Pandian was elected to the Assembly for the first time in 1977 from Alangulam and three years later, Palayamkottai.
Key member
He was one of the key figures of the Jayalalithaa faction of the AIADMK at the time of the split in the party soon after the death of M.G. Ramachandran.
In April 2000, Mr. Pandian, who was Tirunelveli district secretary and deputy general secretary of the party, was expelled.
Three years later, he joined the DMK. He won the Tenkasi Assembly seat on the DMK ticket in 2006. Five years later, he lost to R. Sarathkumar, who contested on the AIADMK symbol.
In the light of controversy over his attempt to get his son elected to a post in Tirunelveli district unit of the DMK, he was suspended from the party in May 2015. About a year later, he returned to the AIADMK. In February 2017, he again left the AIADMK, protesting against the appointment of T.T.V. Dhinakaran as the party's deputy general secretary. In August 2018, he went back to the DMK.
