Denied seat, Kannappan shifts to DMK

He met DMK president M K Stalin at Anna Arivalayam on Monday and offered his support to the alliance in the ensuing election. Kannappan, who was anticipating a LS ticket in the AIADMK-led alliance, has attributed his decision to the ruling party allotting four seats in the south to the BJP.

Kannappan, who had unsuccessfully contested against former union minister P Chidambaram in 2009 on the AIADMK ticket, also questioned the leadership of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. He said there was no coordination between the two, adding that there were not many leaders in the ruling party.

“The AIADMK was merged only to strengthen the party, but now they have allotted four neighbouring seats in the south to a party which has polled less than NOTA. They have surrendered the party to the BJP,” Kannappan said. He was the PWD Minister during J Jayalalithaa’s first tenure as the CM.