DMK's actor-RS member Sarathkumar quits party

Chennai, Apr 10: In a surprise development, Kollywood actor and DMK Rajya Sabha member R Sarathkumar today resigned from the primary membership of the party.

Mr Sarathkumar announced this in a letter addressed to the DMK president M Karunanidhi.

The macho actor, who had joined the DMK and unsuccessfully contested the 1998 Lok Sabha polls, had been sidelined after a controversy over his participation in a meeting organised by his fan clubs at Tuticorin.

His fans had been repeatedly urging him to quit the party and form a political outfit in protest against the alleged neglect of the dominant Nadar community, from which he hailed.

Explaining the reasons for his quitting the DMK, Mr Sarathkumar blamed a coterie in the DMK party for him being sidelined. He said he was often humiliated by people close to Mr Karunanidhi, who could not take any action as he was a ''prisoner of circumstances''. The actor said his fans never liked him joining the DMK as the Party Chief did not make any efforts to solve the Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank issue.

But he continued to remain in the DMK abiding by the Party's principles of Duty, Dignity and Discipline, he added.

Stating that he had not caused any disrespect to the party at any point of time, Mr Sarathkumar, who was made Rajya Sabha MP in 2001, alleged that Mr Karunanidhi could not take any action when he directly complained to him about the humiliation meted out to him by his (Karunanidhi's) family members.

He claimed that just because he made the complaint, he was treated as an enemy by Mr Karunanidhi's family members and his loyalty to the party became a mockery.

''Under the circumstances, the only option left to me was to relieve myself from the party'', he added.

However, Mr Karunanidhi, when asked about the controversy surrounding the actor, said, he had always held Mr Sarathkumar in high esteem. He was given prominence in the DMK State Conference at Tiruchirapalli last month.

The DMK President also refuted the allegation that the Nadar Community was being neglected by the party.

UNI