MDMK presidium chairman Duraisamy quits party
The Hindu
MDMK presidium chairman S. Duraisamy on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, quit the party, culminating a face-off with the leadership over the prominence of Durai Vaiko, son of party leader Vaiko, in the party.
MDMK presidium chairman S. Duraisamy on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, quit the party, culminating a face-off with the leadership over the prominence of Durai Vaiko, son of party leader Vaiko, in the party.
“I am quitting primary membership and relinquishing other responsibilities in the party,” Mr. Duraisamy told mediapersons in Tiruppur.
There is no more need to sustain MDMK, Mr. Duraisamy said, pointing out that the contestants from the party had to enrol as DMK members as a pre-requisite to contest in the Parliamentary (2019) and Assembly elections (2021). They were fielded on the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol.
Mr. Duraisamy who had earlier dared the party leadership to take action against him for advocating merger of MDMK with DMK, said he will retire from political life, but not public life.
“I will continue to propagate the ideals of Anna (Annadurai) and Periyar (E.V. Ramasamy),” Mr. Duraisamy said, claiming he was the only surviving Dravidian politician, who was a member of the DMK during its formation in 1949 by Anna.
“I have written to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to convert the house in which Anna lived at Nungambakkam in Chennai into a memorial.”
The decision of the senior leader to quit the party comes in the wake of vitriol unleashed against Mr. Duraisamy by local party functionaries supportive of Mr. Durai Vaiko.
With increased terminal entry points (eGates) at Mumbai International airport from 24 to 68, which is the highest number of e-gates at kerbside or landside in the country, the expansion will enhance the airport’s processing capacity to an astounding 7,440 passengers per hour at Terminal 2 (T2) and 2,160 at T1