Two expelled DMK leaders back in party

Chennai: Two former stalwarts of the DMK party were readmitted into the party on Friday in the presence of party president M K Stalin here amid reports that the latter has initiated elaborate plans to pre-empt any move from estranged brother Alagiri to woo disgruntled DMK leaders to his side.

Alagiri has announced a ‘silent rally’ to his father’s resting place at Marina on September 5 and vowed to demonstrate his strength by the 'massive' turnout on that day. 

A DMK release said former minister V. Mullaivendhan and former MLA Nellai V Karuppasamy Pandian joined the DMK at the party headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ here. While Mullaivendan had been the Dharmapuri district secretary, apart from being the information minister in Karunanidhi's government, Pandian was the powerful party secretary in the socio-politically sensitive Tirunelveli.

Mullaivendan is a three-time MLA, was expelled from the party in 2014 following DMK's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls held that year. When the party sought his explanation over some charge related to the party's poll performance, he had issued a statement against the high command. After expulsion from the DMK, he was with Vijayakanth’s DMDK since 2015. 

Three-time MLA Karuppasamy Pandian had been with the AIADMK for decades since its launch by MGR but crossed over to the DMK in 2000 after being sidelined by Jayalalithaa. He was expelled from the DMK in 2015 when he revolted against the splitting of the Nellai district into two party units and joined the AIADMK the following year in the presence of Jayalalithaa. He quit the AIADMK last year.