CHENNAI: AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Tuesday expelled the party’s lone MLA, S Kamaraj, from all party posts, including his primary membership, after he openly expressed support for the TVK government during proceedings in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
In a statement, Dhinakaran said Kamaraj had been relieved of all party responsibilities for speaking in support of the government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
Speaking in the Assembly after the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Kamaraj congratulated the newly elected presiding officers and praised the Chief Minister’s leadership.
The Mannargudi MLA said the State needed a stable government for the next five years and expressed confidence that Vijay, being a young leader, would provide “excellent governance”. He said more youngsters had entered the Assembly and added that the future of the State rested in the hands of youth.
Referring to the incident in which he submitted a petition to the Governor at midnight against TVK, alleging that the party had attempted to poach him to prove its majority, Kamaraj referred to “some bitter and unwanted incidents” that had taken place in the political sphere earlier, but said the present political situation required capable governance and asserted that Vijay alone could provide it.
He said the Chief Minister’s first three announcements would benefit Tamil Nadu and appreciated the administration for maintaining cleanliness and improving policing in Chennai. He also said people had expected populist “freebie” announcements involving thousands of crores of rupees, but instead the government had announced schemes that genuinely helped the public.
Declaring his support for the government on the floor of the House, Kamaraj said Tamil Nadu’s youth had placed their faith in Vijay and expressed hope that the government would provide exemplary governance for the next five years.