Chennai, Feb 22- Former presidium chairman of actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Panruti S. Ramachandran joined the ruling AIADMK. The 76-old-politician, who was by profession a qualified engineer, formally joined the AIADMK in the presence of party general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa along with his wife and son. It may be recalled that Ramachandran who resigned both his MLA post and also the party post from the DMDK just two months back announced at that time that he was quitting from politics.
Ramachandran was a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for eight times and he held the ministerial posts of several departments like transport, public works department, electricity and food in both M. Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran’s Cabinets in the seventies and eighties. He was the only Tamil politician to speak in the United Nations and he got this rare opportunity when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took him in her delegation to the UN in 1983. He also played a pivotal role in the famous Indo-Sri Lankan peace accord in 1987 between President J.R. Jayawardane and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Considered as a staunch anti-DMK politician in Tamil Nadu’s politics, Ramachandran fell out with Vijayakanth after the later started talking to the DMK for an electoral tie-up for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He was also fed up after Vijayakanth fielded candidates in the Delhi Assembly polls. Talking to India Today.in, Ramachandran said, “It was nothing but a homecoming for me. Jayalalithaa is a shrewd leader and she has every chance of becoming the next Prime Minister of India. I left it to the great wisdom of Jayalalithaa to use my services in the upcoming elections and she will decide my campaign module,” he further added.
-Indiatoday
