TIRUCHY: With less than a fortnight to go for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, the alliance led by Kamal Hasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam suffered a setback after D Muralikrishnan, who was set to contest from Lalgudi on a Samathuva Makkal Katchi ticket, withdrew his nomination and joined the DMK.
The Sarathkumar-led Samathuva Makkal Katchi, IJK and a few other small outfits are part of Kamal Hasan's MNM coalition for the upcoming assembly polls.
On Monday afternoon, Muralikrishnan (47) joined the DMK in the presence of the party's principal secretary KN Nehru and announced that he is going to campaign for the party in the upcoming days.
Muralikrishnan was set to contest on the Samathuva Makkal Katchi's 'torch light' symbol in the April polls but in a sudden turn of events, he left the fray and decided to join the DMK.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, he said, "I have joined the DMK so that a good government will come to power in the upcoming polls. I have engaged myself with the DMK to work for the public. I will actively campaign for the party and make sure the DMK secures a victory in my constituency."
He had previously held the post of a councillor from the Sirugamani town panchayat for three consecutive terms between 2001 to 2016. He held the post of Tiruchy district secretary of the Samathuva Makkal Katchi since 2007.
Prior to joining the DMK, Muralikrishnan withdrew his nomination papers he had submitted on March 19. His nomination was among the 29 that were accepted in the Lalgudi constituency.
He further added that though he hadn't directly informed Samathuva Makkal Katchi leader Sarathkumar about his departure, he had intimated it to a few senior members in the party.
In Lalgudi constituency, there is a significant number of votes from the Udayar community. Local political observers say Muralikrishnan could have polled a decent number of votes if he had contested due to the strong presence of the community and his prior experience in contesting from here.