Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader and TTV Dhinakaran’s close aide Thanga Tamilselvan on Friday joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the presence of its Working President MK Stalin, PTI reported.

“He has proved the dictum of Anna that the flowers of the rival camp also have fragrance,” Tamilselvan was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “He does not nurture animosity and it is explained by the recognition and elevation of former AIADMK leaders like EV Velu, PK Sekar Babu, TM Selvaganapathy and Senthil Balaji, who joined the DMK.”

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Tamilselvan said a political party headed by a single leader led to huge victories in the recently concluded elections. Since the death of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the party could not take any decision and it was a divided house, he alleged.

“The AIADMK is operated by the BJP and I do not wish to join it losing my self respect,” Tamilselvan claimed. He was confident that DMK would give him a suitable post after observing his work for the organisation.

Tamilselvan was AMMK’s propaganda secretary and before siding with Dhinakaran, he was associated with the AIADMK for a long time. He was also one of the 18 MLAs disqualified by the Assembly speaker for joining Dhinakaran in September 2017. In October 2018, the Madras High Court had upheld the disqualification.

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The former Andipatti MLA also appeared on television channels on behalf of Dhinakaran, and was apparently seen sulking after he lost the Lok Sabha election from Theni constituency in Tamil Nadu.

His quarrel with Dhinakaran was out in open when an audio clip in which he could be heard purportedly criticising the latter was widely shared. The next day, Dhinakaran held a press conference, and said Tamilselvan’s behavior was not aligning with party principles and that a new propaganda secretary will be appointed by July 1. Tamilselvan had then responded saying that Dhinakaran took decisions unilaterally.