V Maitreyan, a three-time Rajya Sabha member, has quit the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and joined the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, criticising the former’s leadership. His move came after he formally joined the DMK in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin. Following his defection, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami immediately expelled Maitreyan from the party.
Maitreyan, a medical oncologist, began his political career with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 1990s before spending more than two decades with the AIADMK. His three terms in the upper house, beginning in 2002, were on behalf of the AIADMK, with his most recent term ending in 2019. This is not his first time leaving the AIADMK; in October 2022, he was expelled for supporting former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and subsequently joined the BJP in June 2023. He rejoined the AIADMK on September 12, 2024.
Maitreyan claimed that the AIADMK’s decisions are dictated by the BJP, with "Delhi (BJP) as the switchboard," and suggested that many senior leaders within the party are unhappy. He argued that the AIADMK-BJP alliance was announced solely by Union Minister Amit Shah, and there was a lack of clarity on key issues due to the parties’ differing stances, such as on the two-language policy. He also criticised Shah’s mention of a "coalition government" and a "Common Minimum Programme" should the National Democratic Alliance win the 2026 Assembly elections.
Also read: True AIADMK workers unhappy with BJP alliance: CM Stalin
When asked about his reasons for leaving, Maitreyan told reporters that the AIADMK’s current functioning was not proper. He felt that while he had been given the position of Organisation Secretary, he was not being effectively utilised for party work.
Maitreyan's decision to join the DMK was, he said, to "guard the Tamil land, language and the state’s dignity," a well-known DMK slogan. He praised Chief Minister Stalin's leadership and expressed confidence that the DMK would secure more than 200 of the 234 Assembly seats and retain power.
In a direct attack on Palaniswami, Maitreyan claimed that the large crowds at the AIADMK general secretary’s ongoing campaign were "staged." He argued that Palaniswami, by witnessing such crowds, was wrongly beginning to see himself as a leader on a par with the party's founder, MG Ramachandran, and the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Citing a proverb, he added that Palaniswami could never hope to reach the stature of those two former leaders.
He also alleged "many confusions" within the AIADMK regarding its top leadership and the utilisation of talent, claiming that many office-bearers are disgruntled. Maitreyan is not the only high-profile figure to recently leave the AIADMK for the DMK, with former minister A Anwar Raja and former MLA VR Karthik Thondaiman also recently making the switch. Maitreyan was welcomed into the DMK at its headquarters, 'Anna Arivalayam,' in the presence of senior leaders, including Duraimurugan, KN Nehru, and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.
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