Rift in AIADMK over RK Nagar candidate

Madhusudhanan charged Jayakumar with trying to field a candidate from the fishermen community in the RK Nagar constituency and said that no fishermen had been fielded for the seat till now. He also alleged that Jayakumar is wielding all his support for mechanised boat owners in Kasimedu and demanded Palaniswami and Panneerselvam to take action against him.

Reacting to Madhusudhanan’s comments, Jayakumar, speaking to DT Next, said, “Intra-party affairs should not be discussed in public. This is an internal matter of the party. I do not want to comment on it”. 

Madhusudhanan, who contested as a candidate of the faction headed by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam in the by-election, which was subsequently rescinded, had expressed his willingness to contest again. But, due to his age and health conditions, the Chief Minister’s supporters had decided to field a new candidate for the seat.

This resulted in a tussle between the two groups and it came out into the open with Madhusudhanan accusing Jayakumar of acting against him. Madhusudhanan was speaking to reporters at Kasimedu after distributing Nilavembu Kudineer and milk sachets to people belonging to Power Kuppam and Vinayagapuram. “Jayakumar is placing obstacles in my political journey since he is afraid that the presence of senior leaders will diminish his importance. The Minister is functioning in an arbitrary manner without the permission of the party leadership,” he said. 

Madhusudhanan said Jayakumar was acting as a hurdle to his political career from 1996 itself. “Jayakumar pretends to have a lot of sympathy and concern for the fishermen’s welfare, but he has done nothing for the progress of fishermen community,” he added.