Former Speaker P. Dhanapal’s son joins TVK in Chennai

D. Lokesh Tamilselvan, son of AIADMK veteran and former Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal, joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the presence of party president Vijay on Saturday in Chennai. Mr. Tamilselvan contested from the Nilgiris Parliamentary constituency on an AIADMK ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and finished third. The seat was won by former Union Minister A. Raja, while Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan finished second. His father, Mr. Dhanapal an incumbent MLA, was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly seven times and also served as a Minister in the Cabinet led by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

After joining the party, Mr. Tamilselvan told the media that his family was upset with the AIADMK as no one had enquired about Mr. Dhanapal when he suffered a health setback a few months ago. According to him, only a few people were running the AIADMK and there was no respect for senior leaders.

TVK sources said Cathrine Ezhilmalai, former Union Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai’s daughter, and Chakkaravarthy, freedom fighter Immanuel Sekaran’s grandson, also joined the party in the presence of Mr. Vijay.