Former MLA Kovai Selvaraj joins DMK alongside other AIADMK functionaries at the DMK headquarters, Chennai. (Photo: TN Govt PR handout)
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Former MLA Kovai Selvaraj, who was the AIADMK Coimbatore Urban district secretary and a loyalist of ousted leader O Panneerselvam, has joined the ruling DMK in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
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He joined the party alongside other AIADMK functionaries at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, in Chennai on Wednesday. A few days ago he announced that he had cut ties with the AIADMK.
Selvaraj said the DMK government had implemented many schemes for people, especially for the downtrodden and women, in just one and a half years, and described the time when the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK ruled Tamil Nadu as the state’s darkest period. Palaniswami was the chief minister and Panneerselvam his deputy.
“Edappadi Palaniswami, who came to power through the backdoor by prostrating, has no moral right to speak about Stalin, who was elected chief minister by the people of Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK has now become a company. So the true AIADMK cadres should accept Stalin’s leadership to promote the Dravidian legacy. Caste- and religion-based parties should be defeated. Soon, close to 5,000 AIADMK cadres from Coimbatore and other parts of the state will join the DMK,” he said addressing reporters while being accompanied by Electricity Minister Senthil Balaji.
Selvaraj said he had canvassed for the DMK when he was 14 years old and that he now felt elated to be back home (thaai kazhagam). He was expelled from the Congress, a DMK ally, before he joined the AIADMK.
