S Ramadoss overthrows son Anbumani in political coup in Pattali Makkal Katchi

The announcement comes four months after the simmering differences between Ramadoss and his Anbumani over running the party played out in the open at a Special General Council meeting in Puducherry on December 28, 2024.

Chennai: Paatali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss on Thursday dropped a political bombshell by assuming the role of party president after relegating his son as the working president, bringing to the fore yet again serious differences within the first family with just a year to go for the 2026 assembly polls.

Anbumani, the former Union health minister who was appointed as PMK president in 2022 with an aim to make the party attractive for the youth, and his father Ramadoss had fought publicly in December 2024 over the appointment of a close relative as the youth chief by the latter.

Ironically, the 85-year-old Ramadoss said he assumed the role of President of PMK by removing his 56-year-old son, to reach youngsters ahead of the 2026 polls.

Except party treasurer Thilaga Bama, none of the senior leaders of the PMK, which wields tremendous influence among Vanniyars, a dominant community spread across north and central parts of Tamil Nadu, came out against Ramadoss and in support of Anbumani. There were sporadic protests by PMK cadres demanding that Ramadoss reconsider his decision.

Anbumani didn’t respond to the decision by his father, while sources said efforts will be taken to arrive at a compromise.

“As the founder of the party, I have decided to assume the role of the President of PMK as well. Anbumani, who has worked for the party, will be the working president,” Ramadoss told reporters at his Thailapuram residence in Villupuram district. He added that the decision was taken with an eye on the 2026 assembly polls.

Sending out a clear message that he was the boss, Ramadoss recalled the struggles that led to the forming of the PMK after 21 persons lost their life during the agitation for bringing Vanniyars under the Most Backward Class (MBC) category.

“I met people during my visit to 95,000 villages across Tamil Nadu…PMK won posts from local bodies to the Union Ministry. Everything was my achievement,” he said.

The announcement by Ramadoss was shocking though differences between the father and son over the functioning of the PMK have been growing over the past few years.

Ramadoss, one of the senior most politicians in the state, is said to have 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, sources told DH.

The decision also comes just months before Anbumani’s Rajya Sabha tenure ends and on a day Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived here on a two-day political visit, triggering speculation whether the PMK was warming up to AIADMK to ensure another term for junior Ramadoss.

The public spat between the father and son in December 2024 had underscored not only the power struggle within the family for control of the PMK but also over the cash-and asset-rich public trusts, including the party’s parent organisation, the Vanniyar Sangam, formed for the community’s welfare.

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.