CHENNAI: Mere hours ahead of BJP state president K Annamalai’s scheduled campaign tour in the Chidambaram parliamentary constituency, Tada D Periyasamy, state president of the BJP’s SC wing, defected to the AIADMK. He joined the party in the presence of former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami at his residence in Chennai.
Periyasamy accused the BJP of having no respect for Dalit leaders, and said that he was not consulted in the candidate selection process for the constituency. He added that they (BJP leaders) have brought in a new candidate from Vellore, P Karthiyayini, to contest in Chidambaram, purportedly to secure an easy victory for VCK president Thirumavalavan in the upcoming polls. He accused BJP leaders, including state president K Annamalai, of being in cahoots with VCK and Thirumavalavan, prompting them to nominate an ‘unfamiliar’ face as opposed to a seasoned leader like himself.
Tada Periyasamy was among the founding leaders of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and was a very close associate of Thol Thirumavalavan. Previously, he contested from the Chidambaram parliamentary constituency in 2004, from the Varagur and Thittakudi Assembly seats in the 2006 and 2021 Assembly election, respectively, all under the BJP ticket. In recent years, he has actively organised numerous protests advocating for the reclamation of Panchami land for the benefit of the Dalit community.