‘It Pains The Heart…’: AIADMK Veteran S Semmalai Quits Party

Chennai: Senior AIADMK leader S Semmalai on Monday resigned from the party, expressing anguish over the developments within the organisation after the elections and raising sharp questions over the future of the Dravidian outfit founded by MG Ramachandran.

In a strongly worded resignation letter addressed to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, Semmalai said the “series of events” unfolding in the party had caused him “immense mental anguish”.

“Is this the fate of the movement created by the Golden-Hearted Revolutionary Leader MG Ramachandran and protected by the Revolutionary Leader Amma J Jayalalithaa? Camphor may dissolve; but can a party dissolve? It pains, it truly pains the heart,” Semmalai wrote in the letter.

Announcing his exit, he said, “I hereby inform the leadership with regret that I am stepping down from the position I hold and also resigning from the party.”

The resignation comes amid growing churn within the AIADMK following the elections, with internal discontent and leadership-related concerns surfacing within sections of the party. Semmalai, considered a senior voice within the organisation, has been associated with the AIADMK for decades and his exit is likely to intensify speculation over internal divisions in the party.

The AIADMK leadership is yet to officially respond to Semmalai’s resignation letter.

ALSO READ: Kerala CM Swearing-In LIVE: VD Satheesan Takes Oath With 20-Member Cabinet