FATHER, SON, AND A WAR OF WORDS

The rift between S. Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss is fuelled by desperation

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In 2011, during the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss visited DMK leader M. Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence to invite him for a family wedding. Karunanidhi did not miss the opportunity to rope the PMK into the DMK-led alliance, even though the PMK had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as part of the AIADMK alliance. The PMK had failed to win a single seat in that election, despite being considered a powerful ally capable of tilting the scales of victory for any alliance. Yet, this perception of the party being a strong ally led Karunanidhi to generously allot 30 seats to the PMK and seal the alliance. However, the PMK managed to secure only three seats, proving that its decline had actually begun as early as 2009.

Dr. Ramadoss, a medical doctor by qualification, has always played his political cards carefully, switching alliances from one election to another, but failing to gauge the shifting sands of Tamil Nadu politics. In 2009, the PMK suffered defeat by aligning with the AIADMK. It was routed again in the 2011 polls. The emergence of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, led by actor Vijayakant, in 2005, also eclipsed the PMK’s influence in many areas.