Dr S Ramadoss raised serious allegations against his son, Anbumani Ramadoss, and said that he brought disgrace to the party.
Published May 29, 2025 | 12:47 PM ⚊ Updated May 29, 2025 | 12:47 PM
S Ramadoss during a meeting.
Synopsis: The internal rift within the PMK in Tamil Nadu intensified after founder Dr S Ramadoss slammed Anbumani Ramadoss, accusing him of trying to cover up his mistakes. Ramadoss said Anbumani brought disgrace to the party.
Founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Tamil Nadu, Dr S Ramadoss, on Thursday, 29 May, slammed Anbumani Ramadoss, accusing him of trying to cover up his mistakes by threatening to remove him from party positions.
Speaking to reporters, Ramadoss said: “You must have seen what Anbumani said during the Dharmapuri meeting. I saw it too. The whole nation saw it. What wrong have I done? Why is he talking about removing me from this position? This is a clear attempt to divert the attention of the public and party members. He is trying to gain sympathy from the people and the cadre by hiding his own mistakes. It is my duty to respond to that. We are now in a situation where the response must be like bitter medicine rather than sugar-coated words.”
Ramadoss claimed that it was a mistake to make Anbumani a Union minister when he was only 35 years of age.
“I went against my own principles and made him a Union Minister when he was just 35 — that was my mistake. It is Anbumani who has done wrong. He started playing a dirty game and stabbed me in the back,” he said.
Tensions between S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramadoss have been simmering for some time. Some senior journalists like Gubendran described it as a “third-generation conflict” within the party.
The friction became public during the PMK’s general council meeting on 28 December 2024 in Villupuram, where Ramadoss and Anbumani clashed openly on stage.
In April 2025, the conflict deepened. Ramadoss formally removed Anbumani’s “president” title, naming himself both founder and president of the PMK, while demoting Anbumani to the role of “working president.”
Saying that he would reveal everything that happened, openly and with evidence, Ramadoss said: “Everyone knows what happened during the General Council meeting. Who behaved in an uncivilised manner on a public stage, ignoring all norms of social and political decency?”
“I appointed Mukundan to assist me at home and help Anbumani in party matters. But he immediately shook his leg in rejection on the stage itself — was that the right thing to do? Was it proper to hurl a mic onto the table, nearly hitting my head?” he questioned.
The reference was to the appointment of Mukundhan Parasuraman, Ramadoss’s grandson (his daughter Gandhimathi’s son), as state youth wing president—a move that Anbumani openly opposed.
Ramadoss said Anbumani brought disgrace to the party.
“Who claimed they had opened a party office in Panaiyur? Who shattered a costly glass partition in an instant? In my 45 years in politics, he has brought disgrace to the party. Anbumani has struck at the very heart of the party. That shook me to the core. He has consistently hindered the growth of the party and committed several blunders,” he said.
Raising serious allegations against Anbumani, Ramadoss said he wanted to bring in GK Mani’s son Tamizhkumaran to help grow the party. Mani has been the honorary president of PMK since 2022.
“I believed it would strengthen us, but Anbumani opposed it. Within minutes of my handing over the appointment letter to him, Anbumani told him to tear it up. The same thing happened with Mukundan. You may call your mother a goddess, but when Mukundan’s mother asked about his appointment during Pongal, Anbumani threw an object at her. Fortunately, it didn’t hit her. These are just samples. He has done far worse,” he said.
“I built this party with great effort. In party executive meetings, if anyone tries to speak, he silences them. I told Anbumani to his face that he has no qualities of a leader. When I went to Dharmapuri and Salem to work for the party’s growth, he issued orders that I shouldn’t be allowed to use a mic or that more than 200 people shouldn’t gather,” he added.
Ramadoss questioned Anbmani, asking whether this was the right way to treat the party’s founder.
“He said I shouldn’t even use a wedding hall — that I must meet party workers only in my room. Who built this party with their sweat and hard work? Who is giving orders to whom now? The low standards of his conduct are unacceptable. Having witnessed all this, I directly told Anbumani during the executive meeting that he has no leadership qualities,” Ramadoss stated.
On 11 May, at the PMK’s Chithirai Full Moon Conference in Mamallapuram, discontent again surfaced during Ramadoss’s speech. Observers noted that Mukundhan, despite being the youth wing president, was not given a seat on the stage — a symbolic snub that drew murmurs within the party.
Against this backdrop, Dr Ramadoss convened the meeting of the PMK’s district leadership. Yet, of the 110 district presidents and 110 district secretaries invited, only 22 turned up, highlighting the deepening internal divide.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose.)
