Ramadoss losing ground losing ground to son Anbumani as most dist chiefs skip Thailapuram meet

VILLUPURAM: Amidst thin attendance of party functionaries at a meeting convened by him announcing that he is taking full control of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), its founder S Ramadoss on Friday denied factional feud.

Downplaying the participation of only 15 functionaries at the district secretaries meet that he had convened at his Thailapuram residence here on Friday, Ramadoss claimed that some functionaries who could not attend the meeting had called him over phone and conveyed their inability to participate.

"Maybe, they would have been tired after attending the party's Chitra Pournami conference at Mamallapuram, recently,” he said.

Responding to a question on factionalism within the party after his son and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss was stripped of his party president's post and made the working president of the party, the senior Ramadoss told reporters here that there was no faction in the PMK.

“You would find groups only during concerts,” he said.

Indicating that he was very much in the saddle, Ramadoss stressed “the lion's aggression does not diminish.”

“I have taught them (PMK members) how to win the election by lying down. We should fix a target of 50 seats and commence the preparatory work. And we would end up securing 40 seats,” he said.

He asserted that the PMK would win hands down in the 2026 Assembly election.