R. Mahendran, former vice-president of the Makkal Needhi Maiam, and the AIADMK’s former Rajya Sabha member, Vijila Sathyananth, joined the DMK here on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister and party president M.K. Stalin.
Mr. Mahendran resigned from the MNM blaming its founder Kamal Haasan for the Assembly election debacle. He unsuccessfully contested in the election from Singanallur. Ms. Vijila Sathyananth was also a former Mayor of Tirunelveli.
Padma Priya, who was the MNM candidate for Maduravoyal, also joined the DMK. She quit the MNM after losing in the election.
Mr. Stalin said that had Mr. Mahendran joined the party before the election, the DMK would have secured a big win in the Kongu region. “Though we won and returned to power, the party did not perform as expected in the region, which was a concern to me. Now, Mr. Mahendran will take care of it.”
A DMK press release said over 200 MNM workers joined the party, along with Mr. Mahendran. Some AMMK workers from Tirunelveli and M. Asokan of the AIADMK advocate wing in Pudukkottai also joined the DMK.
