Chennai: PMK founder S Ramadoss on Saturday (July 25) announced his retirement from active politics after handing over the party leadership to his son Anbumani, drawing curtains on the 18-month-old bitter dispute between them.
At his 88th birthday celebrations organized at a private college near Tindivanam, Ramadoss said that Anbumani will take care of PMK and that he will stand by him.
The public announcement from the elder Ramadoss comes a month after father and son joined in an emotional reunion.
As part of the compromise reached between the two, Anbumani will have full control of PMK and its parent association, Vanniyar Sangam, while the elder Ramadoss will step aside to focus on his health.
“I am retiring from active politics. From today I will neither talk about politics nor conduct any political activities. Anbumani will take care of everything and we will support him,” Ramadoss said with his son sitting beside him.
“Everyone should support Anbuman. You can come visit me, but I will not talk about politics. You should also refrain from political talk with me. You should only ask about my health,” Ramados told his supporters.
The family feud, which was fought out in public for more than a year with father and son leveling accusation after accusation against each other, has now come to an end. Anbuman’s wife and Dharmapuri MLA Sowmiya also attended Ramadoss’s birthday celebrations along with other family members.
The PMK has significant influence among the Vanniyars, a dominant community spread across the northern and central parts of the state, and has a dedicated vote bank of 5 percent.
The compromise was reached after the April 23 Assembly elections decided that PMK stood behind Anbuman even though the party won only 4 of the 18 seats it contested. Although Ramadoss fielded candidates against PMK candidates, he was unable to make any impact – this electoral setback eventually forced him to accept his son’s leadership and agree to a truce.
The family controls not only the party but the Vanniyar Trust, which has properties and educational institutions worth hundreds of crores. The feud between father and son came to the fore in December 2024 when Anbumani publicly opposed his nephew’s ascension as PMK’s youth chief.
Months later, Ramadoss demoted Anbuman as PMK working chairman and later dismissed him from all party posts. He also announced his daughter, Srikanthi, as his successor, but Anbumani refused to accept the decision and contested it – the Election Commission of India (ECI) awarded the Mango symbol to Anbumani’s faction.
