Senior AIADMK members join TVK in Trichy

Trichy: Disgruntled over the changes and rebellion within AIADMK, many key functionaries joined TVK in the presence of the party's delta zone organiser, former minister Ku Pa Krishnan, in Trichy on Monday.‘Naganathar' Pandi, former AIADMK area secretary of Trichy railway junction, S S Boopathi, former area secretary of Woraiyur, and V Padmanathan, former deputy secretary of urban district unit, have joined TVK. While Boopathi is an ex-councillor of Trichy corporation, Padmanathan was AIADMK's candidate for Trichy west constituency in the 2021 Assembly election. He lost to former DMK minister K N Nehru by a margin of 85,109 votes. The new joinees said they felt left out in their former party with no opportunity for growth. "Besides long-time functionaries, we expect youngsters from other parties to join us in the coming days. Grassroots workers who were not recognised by their parties for their hard work are approaching us every day," Ku Pa Krishnan told TOI. AIADMK sources said two of the former area secretaries who joined TVK are senior party workers and are familiar faces of the party in their respective areas. "After the change of leadership in the Trichy urban district unit, many AIADMK functionaries were not very keen to continue. With local body elections fast approaching, this is certainly a setback for the party," a district-level AIADMK functionary said.Meanwhile, Thennur Raja, an MDMK functionary from Pattabiraman Street, also joined TVK.