Anbumani strikes a defiant note, goes fishing on day of expulsion from PMK

Chennai: Former Union Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss struck a defiant note, contending that his expulsion from the PMK by his father, party founder S Ramadoss, was not valid.

On the day senior Ramadoss spoke of "removing the weeds" from the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which he founded in 1989, and announced expelling him from the party, Anbumani went ahead with his state-wide campaign, interacting with fishers in Cuddalore district on September 11.

After agreeing to take up the fishermen’s problems, including the construction of groynes to prevent sea erosion, Anbumani visited Devanampattinam, known for Silver Beach and tried his hand at fishing.

In a dramatic development in April, party founder Ramadoss appointed himself as the president of the party and demoted his former union minister son as the working president of the party. Anbumani disputed competence of Ramadoss to remove him as president. Since then, factions led by both father and son held their own party meetings. They both removed supporters of each other's opposite camp and appointed their own supporters to different party positions. A bitter feud ensued.

Only in this backdrop, Dr Ramadoss has declared on Thursday that he was removing Dr Anbumai from all his party positions and primary membership. Reacting to this action, Anbumani maintained that his position as party president was valid till August 2026 and the same was ratified by the Election Commission of India.

Party lawyer K Balu, who supports Anbumani, claimed that the expulsion was invalid and violated the party bylaw.

Anbumani was accused of 16 charges by the PMK disciplinary committee, including planting a tapping device at his father’s office, and going ahead with his 100-days journey in northern Tamil Nadu without the sanction from Dr S Ramadoss, and meeting district secretaries and causing a rift in the party.

"Dr Anbumani will continue as PMK president based on the party bylaws and the communication sent by the Election Commission of India,” Balu told reporters here.

Announcing the party's decision, following a power tussle between him and his son, the senior Ramadoss charged Anbumani of running a separate faction, refusing to abide by the party's collective leadership.

"If he wants, he can start his own party and need not continue in the party that I founded and nurtured," Ramadoss told reporters at his Thailapuram residence Villupuram district.

The power tussle between the father-son duo came to the fore in December 2024, when Ramadoss appointed his grandson, P Mukundan, son of Gandhimathi, Anbumani’s sister, as the party’s youth wing president.

Anbumani openly objected to this decision, leading to a war of words between him and his father, who had maintained that he (Anbumani) cannot rebel against him. In the days that followed, Anbumani rallied the party’s office bearers behind him, much to the shock of Ramadoss, who later accused his son of tapping his office.

At a crowded press conference, Ramadoss broke down, expressing shock over his son’s actions and stating that he regretted his decision to make Anbumani a Union health minister.

His supporters attempted to bring about a rapprochement between the two leaders, but the incidents took a serious turn when Ramadoss accused his son of planting a tapping device in his office.

Dr Ramadoss, a medical doctor by profession, practicing at Tindivanam, a prominent town in north Tamil Nadu, emerged as a public figure when the caste organisation led by him, Vanniyar Sangam, organised a serial road roko agitation for a week, bringing the state to a standstill in 1987.

The protest was held demanding a separate reservation for Vanniyars, a caste with considerable numerical strength in North Tamil Nadu. Though the protest failed to fetch victory then, when DMK came to power in 1989, then chief minister Karunanidhi carved out a grouping called Most Backward Classes, including Vanniyars, from among the Backward Classes. He gave the new grouping 20 percent reservation from the combined OBC share.

Vanniyar Sangam celebrated this as a huge victory for their cause. Taking credit for the victory, Ramadoss built PMK and popularised it, especially among Vanniyars.