Ex-NTK leader Kaliyammal joins AIADMK, lauds EPS’s grassroots rise

CHENNAI: A year after quitting Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Kaliyammal P, who served as the party’s women’s wing coordinator, joined the AIADMK on Friday in the presence of the party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

A fiery speaker and prominent campaigner for the NTK, Kaliyammal had been widely speculated to be considering a move to actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) last year. However, she met Palaniswami at his residence on Greenways Road in Chennai and formally joined the AIADMK.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Kaliyammal said Palaniswami would decide her role in the party. She also recalled that she had earlier been associated with the AIADMK in 2010.

Kaliyammal hailed AIADMK chief Palaniswami as a leader who rose from humble grassroots roots, explaining her rationale for choosing the opposition party. "I wanted to work under the leadership of a Tamil leader, which is why I decided to join this party,” she said.

Kaliyammal had quit the NTK in February last year following internal differences and a fallout with the party’s chief coordinator Seeman.

Earlier, there were reports that she was in talks with both the TVK and the DMK and might join either party.