Former AIADMK MLA Murugumaran joins TVK, says committed workers sidelined

Tiruppur: Former legislator and AIADMK organising secretary N. Murugumaran joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Dharapuram on Sunday after resigning from the opposition party, accusing its leadership of sidelining committed workers and favouring wealthy candidates.

Murugumaran, who represented Kattumannarkoil in the Assembly twice, met TVK general secretary and Rural Development and Water Resources Minister N. Anand before joining the party.

His departure adds to the defections of former ministers and party functionaries following the AIADMK’s defeat in the Assembly election.

Announcing his resignation earlier in the day, Murugumaran said he remained dissatisfied over the denial of an opportunity to contest from his former constituency in the 2026 election.

He alleged that the leadership had encouraged him to work extensively in Kattumannarkoil but subsequently fielded him elsewhere. Murugumaran won the Kattumannarkoil seat on an AIADMK ticket in 2011 and 2016.

Although he sought to return to the constituency this year, the party nominated him from the reserved Tittakudi constituency. He secured 42,502 votes in Tittakudi, finishing behind DMK candidate C.V. Ganesan, who won with 63,106 votes, and TVK candidate Rajasekhar, who polled 60,477 votes to take second place.

In his resignation statement, Murugumaran accused the AIADMK leadership of giving preference to candidates with substantial financial resources while overlooking those who had worked sincerely for the organisation.

He claimed that ordinary workers, people from poorer backgrounds and those without crores of rupees were increasingly unable to secure political opportunities within the party. Such an approach, he argued, was pushing the AIADMK towards becoming the third force in Tamil Nadu politics.

Murugumaran also alleged that he had not been given due importance in Kattumannarkoil during the party’s campaign programme centred on its pledge to “save Tamil Nadu” in 2026.

He maintained that he could have won from Kattumannarkoil had the leadership allotted him the seat. Describing the decision as a betrayal, he said he could not forget being encouraged to work day and night without receiving the opportunity he sought.

His switch to TVK comes as political parties conclude campaigning for the October 6 Dharapuram bypoll, bringing another former AIADMK legislator into the party’s fold. The move follows his public criticism of candidate selection and the leadership’s treatment of longstanding workers.

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