Despite holding the ceremonial post of ‘founder’ in the OBC Vanniyar dominant Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Ramadoss senior axed his son and party president Anbumani from the executive committee on Sunday.

In a dramatic turn of events, Ramadoss dissolved the present executive committee and nominated a new body, excluding Anbumani, a former Union Minister, and his vocal supporters, deepening the already crisis-ridden party owing to the power struggle between the father-son duo. He also held a meeting of the newly constituted 21-member executive at his Thailapuram residence near Tindivanam in Villupuram district. This is seen as yet another decisive move to clip the wings of Anbumani.

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Curiously enough, the PMK is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA at the national level but is yet to decide on joining the bandwagon in Tamil Nadu for the 2016 assembly election. The father and the son are reportedly having differences over the issue of alliance with Ramadoss, claiming that he alone could take a decision on that. The party’s support base is in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu, where the Vanniyar community is concentrated. But its vote share has witnessed a downward trend from 4.5 percent to around 3 percent.

The rift between the two came into the open when Ramadoss appointed his grandnephew, Mukundan, as head of the PMK’s Youth Wing at the party’s general council meeting, which was vetoed by Anbumani, who left the meeting in a huff after hurling the mike. Subsequently, Ramadoss demoted Anbumani as Working President and assumed the post of PMK president. From then on, Anbumani has been working separately from his office in suburban Panaiyur in Chennai.

Washing dirty linen in public, Ramadoss went to the extent of blaming himself for making his son a Union Minister. He also charged Anbumani with hurling a water bottle at his mother in a fit of rage during a meeting called to bring about a truce.

However, the duo shared the stage in May, during the annual jamboree of the Vanniyar Sangam at the coastal Mamallapuram. However, a truce or a patch-up between them had eluded so far, resulting in tit-for-tat expulsions of each other’s loyalists. While Anbumani removed the party whip in the assembly, Arul Ramadoss, replacing him with Maylam Sivakumar and informing the same to Speaker M Appavoo, senior Ramadoss maintained that Anbumani has no power to take that decision. The PMK has five members in the Tamil Nadu assembly.

With both the father and son unrelenting and amid reports of Ramadoss being disinclined to join hands with the BJP in the coming election, saffron ideologue and ‘Thuglak’ editor S Gurumurthy called on Ramadoss at Thailapuram. Among those who met him recently included TNCC president Selvaperunthagai, who said that the Congress has no opposition to the PMK joining the DMK-led alliance if the DMK, heading the INDIA block in the state, takes a decision to that effect. It became clear that this was not authorised by the Congress leadership when party MP Manickam Tagore questioned the TNCC chief’s conduct.

With the election round the corner, the continuing power struggle has left the cadre shocked and dejected. With Anbumani claiming to hold his father in high esteem and as the guiding light, it remains to be seen how he would respond to his axing from the executive committee. Elected as PMK president by the party general council, he holds the cards, but Ramaodss senior is the mascot for the community, and herein lies the struggle for the party he has assiduously built, say observers.