Beset with problems including his own MlAs rebelling against him, DMDK founder Vijayakant’s woes continued on Tuesday with the resignation of a senior leader, spelling more trouble to the beleaguered party. Deputy leader of the DMDK legislature, Panruti S Ramachandran (76) on Tuesday resigned as MlA besides quitting the party, on health grounds.
Ramachandran drove down to the State Secretariat and handed over his resignation as MlA to Speaker P Dhanapal. Ramachandran was the presidium chairman of the DMDK as well as the deputy leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. When contacted he told reporters that he had submitted his resignation from the legislature Assembly and also from the party on health grounds. But there is clear indication that things were not moving smoothly in the party between him and the leadership. There is no denying the fact that the resignation of Ramachandran has deprived the DMDK of any strength it had hitherto. Not only because of his political knowledge but also as a seasoned his resignation cannot be compensated by any imagination.
sxBut Ramachandran refused to be drawn into any controversy. “My doctor has asked me to take complete rest as my health is deteriorating. There is no difference of opinion between me and the DMDK,” he said. But what he told later gives strength to the speculation that all was not well between him and Vijayakanth. According to Ramachandran, an engineer- turned -politician, the DMDK has lost all its charm and the promise it held to the general public. The DMDK deputy leader had surprised all recently by praising Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the Assembly for her initiatives and measures to make life easy for the poor.