'Made a mistake by making my son a Union Minister at 35': PMK founder Ramadoss

Chennai: The rift within the Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK) further widened on Thursday with founder Dr S Ramadoss publicly admitting that his “biggest mistake” was to have made his son as a Union Minister in the UPA-I government while accusing the latter of “shamelessly lying” about several things. Ramadoss, who launched the PMK in 1989, also charged Anbumani and his wife Sowmiya of “unilaterally deciding” to ally with the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha by vetoing his decision to go with the AIADMK.

Thursday also saw Ramadoss’ grandson, P Mukundan, resigning as the youth wing chief of the PMK, in an apparent bid to bring peace to the warring family and party. It was Mukundan’s appointment that triggered a public spat between Ramadoss and Anbumani, who objected to one more member from the family entering politics.

Since then, both the father and son have been blowing hot and cold against each other but with veiled references. Months later, the father removed the son as the president of the party by relegating him as working president and appointed himself to the post.

Today was different as Ramadoss launched a frontal attack against his son, accusing him of disrespecting him and his wife over Mukundan’s appointment.

“Everyone respects their mother. But during Pongal celebrations, when my wife (Anbumani’s mother) asked him about his opposition to Mukundan’s new post, he threw an object at her in a fit of rage. Fortunately, the object didn’t hit my wife. This is how he behaves. He lies about everything in public,” Ramadoss said.

Anbumani, who didn’t respond to charges made by his father against him, has convened a meeting of district functionaries for three days beginning March 30. Thursday’s development led to speculation whether the party was heading for a split.

The senior politician also revealed that he had not agreed with the PMK joining the BJP alliance and it was only Anbumani’s decision. He also said Anbumani’s open rebellion against him at the General Council after the appointment of Mukundan had shocked everyone. “He flung the mic onto the table. Everyone saw his behaviour on the dais. This is a clear example that he lacks leadership qualities,” Ramadoss added.

Ramadoss also accused Anbumani of calling office bearers of the party not to attend a meeting called by him earlier this month. “I died the same day. This is a party that I built from the scratch…it wasn't Anbumani who made a mistake. It was me. I went against my own principles and made him a Union Minister at the age of 35. That was my mistake," the senior leader added.

Ramadoss has been upset with the PMK tilting towards the BJP for the past few years under Anbumani’s leadership. The party failing to win in its stronghold of Dharmapuri for the second consecutive Lok Sabha polls is cited as one of the factors that led Ramadoss to rethink about the party’s alliance strategy.

He wants the PMK not to water down its core agenda of uplifting the lives of Vanniyars and ally only with Dravidian parties, if needed. PMK, whose influence has been waning even among Vanniyars, still commands a committed vote bank of about 5 per cent and was part of the A B Vajpayee-led government and the UPA-I.

The party which came into being in 1989 primarily to espouse the cause of Vanniyars, had swung like a pendulum between DMK and AIADMK for decades together, and aligned with the BJP after its experiment of going alone failed in 2016.