Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 16 : In another setback for the AIADMK, former Tamil Nadu Health Minister and Viralimalai MLA C Vijayabaskar on Tuesday submitted his resignation as a Member of the Legislative Assembly to Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar at the Secretariat in Chennai.
Vijayabaskar, who represented the Viralimalai Assembly constituency, personally submitted his resignation letter, as required under Assembly Rule 21.
The Speaker said the resignation was examined and found to be in accordance with Assembly Rule 22. Following this, the resignation was formally accepted.
With the acceptance of his resignation, the seat from the Viralimalai Assembly constituency has fallen vacant with immediate effect.
Last week, over 300 members from AIADMK officially joined Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Saturday at the party headquarters in Panaiyur near Chennai, citing the inability to serve the public properly under AIADMK leadership.
Among those who joined the ruling party were former AIADMK Minister Vellamandi Natarajan, Anna Trade Union Federation State Secretary Kamalakkannan, former AIADMK MLA from Mylapore Natraj, former AIADMK Minister Anandan, former Paramakudi AIADMK MLA Sadhan Prabhakar, and Tirupathur City Secretary DT Kumar.
The induction took place in the presence of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam General Secretary and Tamil Nadu Rural Development Minister N Anand, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sengottaiyan, and Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna.
Former Minister and senior AIADMK leader Udumalai Radhakrishnan said that, along with him, senior leaders, including Trichy NR Sivapathi, Kadambur Raju, MC Sampath, Panneerselvam, Govindasamy, and Kolathur Krishnamoorthy, have joined the ruling TVK.
Recalling the leadership of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, he said AIADMK functionaries maintained strict discipline during her tenure and that her demise was a major setback for the party.
Radhakrishnan also stated that although they had remained in AIADMK for the past five years, they were unable to effectively serve the public and had been functioning under difficult circumstances.
He said they see the ideals of MG Ramachandran (MGR) and Jayalalithaa reflected in the leadership of Chief Minister Joseph Vijay, adding that the respect and recognition they received in TVK motivated their decision to join the party.