The DMK on Friday welcomed into its fold the DMDK’s Namakkal district unit secretary and former MLA P. Sampathkumar. He is the 10th district secretary of the party headed by actor Vijayakant to quit and join the DMK.
Mr. Sampathkumar, who was elected from the Tiruchengode constituency in the 2011 Assembly elections, met DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin and became a member of the DMK. A few more DMDK district secretaries are expected to join the DMK.
“I quit the DMDK because I disagreed with Mr. Vijayakant’s decision to become a part of the People’s Welfare Front (PWF) against the wishes of most district secretaries during the recent Assembly elections. I also kept away from contesting the election to express my protest,” Mr Sampathkumar told The Hindu.
According to him, though Mr. Vijayakant elicited the opinion of the district secretaries and party MLAs and promised to form an alliance with the DMK, he changed his mind in the last minute.
“We came to know about his decision to align with the PWF only through media reports. I was upset,” said Mr. Sampathkumar, adding that more DMDK cadres from his district would join the DMK soon.
Former DMDK MLAs V.C. Chandrakumar, S.R. Parthipan and C.H. Sekar, who had launched the Makkal DMDK during the run up to the Assembly polls and contested on the DMK symbols, recently decided to merge their outfit with the DMK. The merger will take place on July 17 at Salem.
“We have been saying that the PWF was formed only to prevent the DMK from coming to power. Our allegation was proved when MDMK general secretary Vaiko recently declared that his strategy to defeat the DMK had worked well,” said Mr. Chandrakumar, who was the whip of the DMDK in the Assembly during 2011-16.
He said the DMDK leaders and cadres should ponder over their continuation in the party as it had been exposed thoroughly.
‘Our allegation that Vaiko formed the PWF only to prevent the DMK winning has been proved right'
