CHENNAI: With just months to go for the Assembly elections, internal tensions within the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) are peaking, as party founder S Ramadoss and his son, party president Anbumani Ramadoss, have announced rival General Council meetings, a move widely seen as a precursor to a formal split.
Ramadoss on Saturday announced that he would conduct PMK’s General Council meeting on August 17. The GC meeting announced earlier by Anbumani and general secretary Vadivel Ravanan is “illegal” as it violates party bylaws, he said.
In contrast, on Friday, Anbumani and Ravanan had issued a joint statement announcing that the general council would meet on August 9 in Mahabalipuram.
Deepening the crisis, the senior Ramadoss levelled a sensational allegation against Anbumani, accusing him of orchestrating the planting of a surveillance device at his residence in Thailapuram, in Villupuram district. “The world has never seen a son spying on his own father,” he said, adding that he had lodged complaints with the Villupuram police and cybercrime authorities. He said that he had engaged a private agency to assist him in the investigation.
While Ramadoss had earlier refrained from naming anyone directly in the spying row, his latest accusation signals an escalation in the ongoing power struggle within the party.
Reacting to the allegations, K Balu, a staunch supporter of Anbumani, said the identity of the person behind the device must be ascertained by police, and claimed that there are inconsistencies in the senior leader’s statements.
Balu defended the August 9 GC meeting called by the Anbumani camp, citing PMK’s Rule 16, which stipulates that the general secretary convenes the meeting and the president presides over it. “As of now, Anbumani is the party’s president. Rule-13 allows the founder to participate and offer suggestions, but not to override the process,” he said.