CHENNAI: Within days of launching his new political outfit, T T V Dhinakaran suffered a setback with one of his staunch supporter Nanjil Sampath snapping ties with him. Till recently, Sampath had been hailing Dhinakaran as the morning star of AIADMK and the future leader of the party.
Informing his decision to mediapersons at his native place Manakkavilai in Kanniyakumari district, Sampath said he was snapping ties with Dhinakaran due to “difference of opinion” over the name chosen by the former for this party - Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), which is bereft of the terms ‘Anna’ and ‘Dravida’. However, party sources claimed that Sampath was not happy with Dhinakaran during the recent period as he was not consulted on certain issues.
Sampath charged that Dhinakaran had committed a blunder by ignoring the words ‘Anna’ and ‘Dravida’ in his party name. “Without Arignar Anna and Dravidian ideology, Tamils would not have been uplifted. I don’t want to be part of this betrayal committed by Dhinakaran. So, hereafter, you can see me in literary meetings,” he said and added that he would not return to Dhinakaran’s party.
Incidentally, Sampath, when he quit the MDMK after differences of opinion with party chief Vaiko and later when he quit the AIADMK after the death of the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, had expressed similar sentiment - that he would not join any other party and he would begin his literary innings.
Reacting to Sampath’s charges, Dhinakaran said, “The term ‘Amma’ symbolises the Dravidian ideology because Jayalalithaa had lived Dravidian principles through her regimes. As such, we did not ignore Anna and Dravidian ideology. Indeed, the AMMK is an interim arrangement... So Sampath’s charges cannot be accepted.”
Sampath left the MDMK in November 2012 over differences with Vaiko. Within a month, he joined the AIADMK in the presence of Jayalalithaa. After her death in December 2016, he quit AIADMK. However, a little later, he started supporting Dhinakaran.
Of late, it seems some differences of opinion cropped up between him and Dhinakaran. Sampath skipped the launch of AMMK at Melur last week. Reacting to Sampath’s decision, V Pugazhendi, another staunch supporter of Dhinakaran, said, “The party leadership should try to clarify the difference of opinion with Sampath.” Another functionary Thanga Thamizhselvan said efforts would be made to bring Sampath back to the partyfold.