Chennai: A day after he met two key BJP leaders including its national president J P Nadda at New Delhi, prominent MLA of the opposition DMK Ku Ka Selvam was suspended from the party and relieved from the post of headquarters secretary, today.
A DMK release here said a show cause was also issued to him as to why he should not be expelled from the primary membership of the party for bringing disrepute to DMK.
While one statement from the party said Selvam was stripped of all the party posts, another said he was temporarily suspended from the party for acting in aĀ manner that brought disrepute to the party and for violating party discipline and also issued a notice to show cause as to why he should not be removed from the primary membership of the DMK.
Amid rising speculations that he would join the BJP, Selvam last evening flew to the National Capital and first met Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and laterĀ Nadda at his residence.
However, after meeting Nadda, Selvam, who represents Thousand Lights seat in the State Assembly, said he met Goyal to sanction lifts at the Nungambakkam Railway Station in Chennai and also issues relating to his constituency, and that he was not joining the BJP–seen as a strategy to avoid disqualification from the State Assembly under the anti-defection law.
Now that he was suspended from the DMK, Selvam’s entry into the BJP has now become a formality and the event was expected to happen very soon.
Selvam’s meeting with two prominent BJP leaders has sent ripples in the DMK which suffered a setback when senior leader and former Assembly Deputy Speaker V P Duraisamy joined the BJP in May this year.
Talking to reporters after meeting Nadda, Selvam said he was not joining the saffron party.
He, however, dropped enough hints by congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Upping his ante, Selvam said DMK president M K Stalin should strongly condemn those (YouTube Channel Karuppar Kootam) who denigrated Hindu deity Lord Muruga and the devotional song Kandha Shasti Kavasam sung in His praise.
He also said Stalin should severe all ties with the Congress whose leader Rahul Gandhi has been critical of Prime Minister’s good governance.
Asserting that he did not join the BJP as widely speculated, Selvam said he was prepared to face any action taken against him by the DMK high command for meeting Nadda.
Selvam joined the DMK in 1997 after quitting the AIADMK and was elected to the State Assembly from Thousand Lights Constituency in the city in the 2016 Assembly polls.
Selvam was apparently disgruntled over not getting a key party post and rumours were rife that his meeting with Nadda was to join the BJP.
Reports said that Selvam was eyeing for the powerful DMK Chennai West District Secretary post, which fell vacant due to the death of sitting MLA J Anbazhagan due to coronavirus.
The DMK had appointed Chitrarasu, a member of the youth team, to the post held by Anbazhagan.