Manoj Pandian joining DMK in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and other party leaders.
Credit: X/@PTI_News
Chennai: Legislator PH Manoj Pandian, who was expelled from the AIADMK in 2022 after he owed allegiance to former chief minister O Panneerselvam, on Tuesday joined the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Manoj Pandian is the son of former Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker Paul Hector Pandian, who was known for his proclamation that he had sky-high powers as the presiding officer of the House.
Manoj Pandian, the MLA from Alangulam in Tirunelveli district, is the third AIADMK leader to join the DMK in the past few months after Anwar Raajah and Dr V Maitreyan, who cited the party’s alliance with the BJP as the reason to quit.
His entry into the DMK is expected to be a boost to the party in Tirunelveli district and will help further consolidate the votes of Nadars, the community to which he belongs. Moreover, his family, which has been associated with the AIADMK since its founding by M G Ramachandran, still enjoys clout in the district.
A lawyer by profession and who served as a MLA and MP, Manoj Pandian owed allegiance to Panneerselvam when he rebelled against Palaniswami in 2022. With a sound legal mind, he was Panneerselvam’s trusted man when he rebelled against V K Sasikala in February 2017 and later against Palaniswami.
After staying with him for three years, the legislator slowly withdrew himself from OPS’ camp which has lost its political relevance.
With Manoj Pandian’s exit, Panneerselvam stands as a lonely man even as speculation mounted that another trusted lieutenant, R Vaithilingam, is also likely to join DMK.
“I decided to join the DMK because Chief Minister M K Stalin is rooted to the Dravidian ideology despite relentless pressure from the BJP. It is only the DMK which continues to uphold the principles and ideology of the Dravidian movement,” the legislator, who resigned as MLA, said.
He also alleged that AIADMK was no longer the organisation nurtured by its founder M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. “The AIADMK is now dependent on another party (BJP),” he added.
His father, P H Pandian was the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly from 1985 to 1989. He shot into limelight when he as Speaker of the Assembly summoned Balasubramanian, then Editor of Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan, to the House and asked him to apologise for a “derogatory” cartoon on lawmakers.
When Balasubramanian refused to apologise, the Speaker sentenced him to three months in prison which was challenged by the magazine editor in the court. The court sent a notice to P H Pandian who not just refused to receive the summon but also claimed that he had “sky-high” powers as Speaker of the Assembly.
His proclamation was so dramatic that it not just hit national headlines then, but politicians and experts keep referring to his comments whenever the Speaker’s powers are questioned.