CHENNAI/KANNIYAKUMARI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday temporarily relieved party MLA and senior functionary Thalavai N Sundaram from all party posts, for acting against the ideology and principles of the AIADMK besides violating the party’s bylaws.
Sundaram has been suspended as AIADMK’s organising secretary as well as the Kanniyakumari East district secretary. His suspension comes two days after he flagged off a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) rally in Kanniyakumari.
Since the AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP in September 2023, Palaniswami has time and again asserted that the party would not have any truck with the BJP in the future, including for the 2026 Assembly elections.
At this juncture, Sundaram flagging off the RSS rally may have been seen as embarrassing to the party.
However, Palaniswami’s statement does not mention any particular reason for the suspension except that Sundaram acted against party principles. Since an inquiry has to be made, he has been relieved from all party posts temporarily, it added.
‘I was invited only as MLA, didn’t violate any principle’
This action has come amid existing concerns about the AIADMK becoming weak, especially in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. BJP State convenor H Raja, when queried regarding Sundaram's suspension, said, "I welcome Thalavai Sundaram," indicating that the AIADMK functionary is welcome to join the BJP.
Sundaram was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as an AIADMK MLA from the Kanniyakumari constituency in 2001. He has also served as an AIADMK Rajya Sabha member from April 1996 to May 2002.
He served as a minister in the cabinet headed by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa between 2001 and 2006, and held many key portfolios including revenue, registration, public works, highways, irrigation, and later served as the Tamil Nadu government's representative in New Delhi.
In December 2002, he was dropped from the state cabinet. Subsequently, in December 2011, Jayalalithaa relieved Sundaram as the party's organising secretary. In July 2014, she appointed Sundaram as the Kanniyakumari East secretary. In the 2021 Assembly elections, Sundaram was once again elected from the Kanniyakumari constituency.
While TNIE was unable to reach Sundaram for a comment, he told a television channel that he had been invited for the RSS rally only as the MLA of the Assembly constituency where it had taken place, and that he did not violate any party principle.