DMK expels MLA who met BJP President JP Nadda

Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party, DMK, on Thursday, cracked the whip against its legislator Ku. Ka. Selvam, who met BJP President J P Nadda in New Delhi last week and questioned party’s links with Congress among many other things, by expelling him from the outfit.

Selvam, the MLA from Thousand Lights constituency here that was represented by DMK President M K Stalin four times in the past, is expected to join the BJP formally. The legislator, after meeting Nadda, had questioned DMK’s ties with Congress and criticised Stalin for not conducting internal elections of the party.

“The response of Ku. Ka. Selvam who was relieved from the posts of headquarters office secretary and member of the executive council and served a show-cause notice for bringing disrepute to the party is unacceptable. Hence, he is being dismissed from all his posts, including primary membership of the party,” Stalin said in a statement.

Since Selvam has been expelled by the DMK, he is likely to function as an unattached member in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, sources said. He could also be BJP’s voice in the Assembly, where the party has nil presence.

Though Selvam maintained that he never joined the BJP, leaders of the saffron party claimed that the legislator joining the party has strengthened it in the state.

Immediately after meeting, Selvam demanded a conduct of internal party elections in the DMK and needled Stalin for not condemning YouTube channel Karuppar Kootam’s disparaging remarks against Lord Murugan.

An MGR loyalist, Selvam, who joined the DMK in the 1990s after quitting the AIADMK, was upset over not being appointed as Chennai West district secretary of the DMK following incumbent J Anbazhagan’s demise in June.

With the party preferring a low-weight Sitrarasu who was backed by Stalin’s son and youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi for the post, Selvam was upset. Intense speculation that Udhayanidhi might test his electoral fortunes from his constituency in the next elections could have also led to Selvam exploring other options.