CHENNAI: The general council of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), convened by Dr Anbumani Ramadoss in Mahabalipuram on Saturday, elected him as president as his three-year tenure ended in May. Anbumani said that he was assuming the post out of a sense of duty and not out of desire and blamed intermediaries for sabotaging reconciliation with his father and party founder Dr S Ramadoss.
Addressing the meeting, Dr Anbumani, referring to one of the resolutions passed at the event, said his party is clear that DMK should not return to power in the 2026 Assembly polls. He, however, said the party would decide on who should form the government, and form a “mega” alliance accordingly.
His remarks gained significance as it indicated that he was keeping his options open about aligning either with the AIADMK-BJP alliance or with Vijay’s TVK, though the PMK contested the 2024 LS poll as part of the BJP-led NDA. “We will come to power. The alliance will be in line with your wishes,” he told the attendees.
The meeting happened after the Madras HC dismissed the plea by Murali Shankar, the general secretary appointed by Ramadoss amid the ongoing tussle with his son, following a day of high drama with Justice N Anand Venkatesh speaking to both the father and son separately in a bid to resolve the dispute on Friday.
‘Dalits, Vanniyars should reject DMK in 2026 polls’
Dr Anbumani said he felt no joy when he heard about the verdict. “I did not feel happy or joy at all. I was pained. Who are we getting this verdict against? Against our own?,” he asked.
He said that Dr Ramadoss will forever remain the guiding force of the party and said he will surely join the rest present at the meeting soon. A chair reserved for the party’s founder, Ramadoss, was placed vacant next to Anbumani at the meeting, symbolising the founder’s permanent place in the party.
In a reference to the founder, he said, “In temples, sometimes the deity gets angry, and we perform rituals to please them. Here, the problem is not with the deity, but with the priests.”
He said that he had spoken with his father over 40 times in the recent past, including once on Friday, trying to resolve the differences. “Every time we make progress, intermediaries sabotage it,” he said. “At one point, we agreed to share signing powers jointly, and Ayya (Ramadoss) accepted it. But later, he insisted that the power should rest with him alone,” he said.
Urging party functionaries and cadres to remain upbeat and work actively for the elections, he said he received a letter from the Election Commission of India last week, stating that the party has been allotted the “mango” symbol it has always used in Assembly election. He attacked the DMK for “betraying” the Vanniyar community by failing to take measures to implement the 10.5 % reservation. One of the resolutions said the party will launch a massive protest to “fill the prisons” if the DMK government fails to provide the reservation. “Both the Dalits and the Vanniyars should fully reject the DMK in the upcoming elections,” he said. Vadivel Ravanan and Thilagabama were respectively elected as general secretary and treasurer for another year till August 2026.
Meanwhile, Murali Shankar, termed the meeting as illegal, stating that the Madras High Court did not accord any legitimacy to the meeting.