The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday said it had withdrawn the primary membership of O Raja, the brother of deputy Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, for alleged “anti-party activities”. The party’s statement was signed by Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
O Raja was part of the party’s Theni district cadre. The AIADMK has warned its workers from communicating with him because he “acted against the party’s principles and ideologies” and brought “disrepute to the party”.
A report in Vikatan magazine said O Raja was dismissed from the party soon after he was elected chairperson of Aavin Madurai District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union on Wednesday morning. The magazine claimed that Raja had been trying to get this post for over four months.
Madurai District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union is one of the profit-making cooperatives in Tamil Nadu and is placed third after Erode and Coimbatore districts. The revenue generated last year was Rs 1,000 crore, former chairperson of the union, T Ammavasai, said.
Ammavasai had moved the Madras High Court in October claiming that O Raja was wielding political influence to try and get the post of the Union’s chairperson. The court had directed the Union to conduct elections to select the chairperson.
The magazine claimed that O Raja’s dismissal was a signal that Palaniswami was still in control of the party.
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