Former DMK deputy general secretary V P Duraisamy joins BJP

CHENNAI: Former DMK deputy general secretary V P Duraisamy joined BJP on Friday. He joined the party at its Tamil Nadu unit headquarters, Kamalalayam, in Chennai in the presence of its state president L Murugan.
On Thursday, DMK president M K Stalin removed Duraisamy from the post of party’s deputy general secretary and replaced him with Rajya Sabha member Anthiyur Selvaraj.
After joining BJP, Duraisamy spoke to reporters at his residence.Duraisamy, sporting sacred ash on his forehead (which he had never done when he was in DMK), said he would send a resignation letter to DMK president M K Stalin.
“The future of the country is in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I don’t want to speak about what happened in DMK and want to look forward as a member of BJP,” said Duraisamy.
Duraisamy is not new to crossing from one party to another. In 1995, he left DMK to join AIADMK and became a Rajya Sabha member. He returned to DMK in 2005 and became deputy speaker when DMK formed the government in 2006.
Duraisamy’s removal from DMK party post came after he had called on the BJP state president. He said that he and Murugan hailed from Namakkal district and both had contested the 2016 assembly election against each other.
On Thursday, Duraisamy spoke to the media criticising DMK. “Though parties speak loud against castes, none has provided the leader post to dalits as done by BJP. All parties speak against castes but use caste during election time,” said Duraisamy.
“Stalin, as an individual, is a good person but he listens to a few people who are always around him and have formed a coterie,” said Duraisamy.