Senior AIADMK leader Dhanapal’s son Lokesh Tamilselvan joins TVK

Chennai: In an embarrassment to the AIADMK, D Lokesh Tamilselvan, the son of party MLA and former Speaker P Dhanapal, on Saturday joined actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). Tamilselvan was the AIADMK’s candidate from Nilgiris constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but could only secure the third position. 

Lokesh, whose father Dhanabal is MLA from Avinashi and served as Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from October 2012 to May 2021, joined TVK in the presence of Vijay at the party’s headquarters in Panaiyur on the East Coast Road (ECR) here. 

Along with Lokesh, Chandrakumar, grandson of Dalit activist Immanuel Sekaran, and Catherine, daughter of former Union Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai, also joined the TVK. 

Sekaran was a Dalit leader who was hacked to death in 1957 a day after he confronted prominent Mukulathor leader U Muthuramalinga Thevar at the Ramanathapuram collectorate. 

Lokesh was among children of prominent AIADMK leaders who contested the Lok Sabha elections in which the party leader drew a blank. The development is seen as an embarrassment to the AIADMK which has been criticising the actor-politician over a slew of issues, including his actions after 41 people were killed in the stampede in Karur.