NEW DELHI: Actress and AIADMK Policy Propaganda Deputy Secretary Gautami Tadimalla has resigned from the AIADMK, stepping down from both her party post and primary membership with immediate effect. Her resignation comes at a time when the AIADMK is grappling with a steady exodus of senior leaders and functionaries to chief minister C. Joseph Vijay’s party. On Saturday alone, several prominent political figures, including former Forests Minister K.T. Pachaimal, former Tirunelveli Mayor E. Bhuvaneswari, former MPs R. Vanaroja, N. Balaganga and A. Elavarasan, as well as former MLAs S. Ravi and S. Murugesan, joined the ruling party. Former Congress legislator and BJP leader S. Vijayadharani also switched to the TVK along with her supporters. The inductions took place in the presence of TVK General Secretary ‘Bussy’ N. Anand and other senior party leaders. According to the TVK, more than 2,500 functionaries from various political parties, including 37 prominent political personalities, joined the ruling party.The latest developments add to the mounting pressure on the AIADMK, which has witnessed several high-profile defections since the TVK formed the government. Former ministers M.C. Sampath, Kadambur C. Raju, Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan, N.R. Sivapathi, Vellamandi N. Natarajan and MSM Anandan have all crossed over to Vijay’s party in recent months. In May, four AIADMK MLAs resigned and joined the TVK, triggering a political crisis within the Dravidian party.
