CHENNAI: Within days after rattling the saffron party by withdrawing from the mayoral race for Tirunelveli Corporation, GPR Vellaiyammal along with her husband Ganesa Perumal Raja, former secretary, BJP’s traders wing, entered the AIADMK fold during an audience with party general secretary J Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden residence on Friday.
Fielded by the BJP, Vellaiyammal withdrew her nomination ensuring the election of AIADMK’s mayoral candidate E Bhuvaneswari unopposed.
Meanwhile, Neethi Xavier, BJP candidate for Ward No.166 in Chennai Corporation who too had withdrawn his nomination, joined the AIADMK. Apart from these BJP functionaries, many from the Congress, DMDK, PMK and MDMK also joined the AIADMK. Jayalalithaa welcomed them into the party fold by presenting them membership cards.
Meanwhile, E Bhuvaneswari, who was elected unopposed as Mayor of Tirunelveli Corporation, D Saravanakumar, R Rajasekaran, M Sridhar and VM Rajalakshmi who have been elected unopposed as chairpersons of Coonoor, Pudukottai, Kodaikkanal and Sankarankovil municipalities respectively and M Kumanan, elected unopposed as the president of Abhiramam town panchayat in Ramanathapuram district called on the Chief Minister at the Secretariat.
Functionaries from other parties who embraced the AIADMK include AG Mathiyalagan, secretary, PMK’s Puducherry unit, AICC member and former chairperson of Puducherry Women’s Commission S Kamalini and DMDK’s Salem East district women’s wing secretary Umaraji.