Ramadoss names daughter as PMK's working president; deepening rift with son Anbumani

Chennai: Nearly two months after expelling his son Anbumani, Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss on Saturday appointed his elder daughter Sree Gandhi Parasuraman alias Gandhimathi as the party’s working president. This appointment is set to widen the growing gap between the father and son – who have been sparring in the public over their differences in running the PMK and the family.

The naming of Gandhimathi as the working president of PMK replacing Anbumani, who was relegated to the post in April this year, was not surprising as Ramadoss has been dropping hints that he might anoint his daughter as his political successor. Gandhimathi was introduced to political leaders who met Ramadoss earlier this month when he was admitted to a hospital for an angiogram.

“I have appointed my eldest daughter Gandhimathi as PMK’s working president, a post I created. She will bring pride to Tamil Nadu,” Ramadoss later told reporters in Dharmapuri after the party’s General Council meeting “ratified” his announcement. The senior Ramadoss also appointed G K M Tamil Kumaran, son of his loyalist G K Mani, as the youth wing president.

Though Ramadoss has expelled his son from the party, Anbumani refused to accept the decision and continues to claim that he is the president of the PMK as he was duly elected by the General Council.

The fight between the father and son have cast a shadow on the PMK, which wields considerable influence among Vanniyars, a dominant community spread across north and central parts of Tamil Nadu. The split is also likely to reduce the party’s bargaining power in alliance negotiations if no resolution is reached before the assembly elections next year.

Anbumani, who was in Tiruppur, declined to comment on the latest development in the party. “It is the internal affairs of the party. This can’t be discussed here,” he told reporters.

The developments in the PMK are also a body blow to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is now left with only two major parties -- the AIADMK and BJP. Already, the NDA in Tamil Nadu has weakened in the past two months, with O. Panneerselvam and AMMK’s T T V. Dhinakaran exiting the alliance, blaming the BJP leadership for cold-shouldering them at the insistence of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

It all began in December 2024, when Anbumani publicly accused his father of promoting dynastic politics following Ramadoss’s decision to parachute one of his grandsons, Parasuraman Mukundan, into the post of youth wing chief. Since then, the two have been sparring, with the father demoting the son to working president and assuming the role of president in April 2025.

The senior Ramadoss had appointed himself as president of the PMK in April after relegating his son to working president, setting the stage for a confrontation which has played out in public over the past two months.

The public spat has underscored not only the power struggle within the family for control of the PMK, but also for the cash- and asset-rich public trusts, including the party’s parent organisation, the Vanniyar Sangam, formed for the community’s welfare.