How Ramadoss vs. Ramadoss makes PMK a divided house

India Today

6 hours ago

This Father's Day (June 15), Pattali Makkal Katchi (Proletarian People's Party or PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss struck a rare emotional chord when he posted the following message on social media: 'Fathers are always flames of sacrifice. If creation is a mother's role, nurturing with love is the sacred duty of the father. Let us not honour fathers just on this day—but every day.' Coming amid a public and painful power struggle with his father, party founder S. Ramadoss—the most turbulent chapter in the PMK's history—the message read more like an offer of truce than just a tribute.A few hours later, addressing a general council meeting in Thiruvallur, Anbumani apologised to his father: 'If you're upset with me, please forgive me. There's nothing wrong in asking for forgiveness from a father.' The apology, though, came with a caveat—he would not step down as party president. 'As a son, it is my duty to ensure you live long with health and happiness. Ayya underwent bypass surgery 10 years ago and now deals with blood pressure and diabetes. He should not be stressed. Just give orders, and I will carry them out—as your son and as the party president,' Anbumani said.advertisementThe PMK, once a potent force rooted in Vanniyar assertion and social justice rhetoric, is now caught in an unprecedented leadership conflict. The feud between the founder and his son has not only divided the party but also exposed its decline from a grassroots movement to a dynastic, alliance-dependent outfit.Born out of a Vanniyar agitation for the Most Backward Classes (MBC) reservation quota, the PMK was the political culmination of the community's rise up the social ladder. Violence during the protests of 1987, which led to 21 deaths, gave S. Ramadoss immense symbolic capital, setting the stage for the PMK's formation in 1989. Over time, however, the universalist vision of social justice narrowed into a tight grip over Vanniyar identity, sacrificing broader appeal for sectarian consolidation.
Through the 1990s and early 2000s, the PMK allied with the DMK and the AIADMK at different times, guided more by electoral arithmetic than ideology. It reached its peak in 2004, with Anbumani becoming Union health minister in the United Progressive Alliance government. But the party's support began to erode in the years that followed, thanks to regressive casteist positions, opposition to inter-caste marriages, and its role in the infamous 2012 Dharmapuri incident in which a Dalit youth's death and anti-Dalit violence shook Tamil Nadu.advertisementAnbumani's 2016 bid to reposition himself as a moderniser—under the slogan 'Change. Progress. Anbumani.'—was a slick, media-savvy campaign that won attention but not trust. Yet, since becoming party president in 2022, Anbumani has steadily tightened his grip, bypassing the old guard and forging direct relationships with district-level leaders.Long-simmering tensions between father and son boiled over in December 2024, when S. Ramadoss named his daughter's son Mukundan as youth wing leader at a party meeting. Anbumani, visibly angry, denounced the appointment as dynastic—a striking irony given his own elevation was engineered by his father.In April this year, the rift deepened as the founder declared himself party president, insisting that Anbumani step down and continue only as working president. Anbumani refused. Efforts at mediation by senior leaders and political intermediaries, including RSS ideologue S. Gurumurthy, failed to make headway. While his father maintained he would remain party chief 'so long as he is alive,' Anbumani pressed ahead, consolidating his base through grassroots meetings and subtle signalling of a generational shift.At the PMK's general council meeting in Kancheepuram more recently, Anbumani blamed the ruling DMK and unnamed 'conspirators within' the PMK for the ongoing unrest within his party. Without offering concrete evidence, he accused the DMK of seeking to electorally weaken the PMK by engineering internal rifts. Referring to repeated unfulfilled promises of internal reservations for the Vanniyars, he accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of having 'betrayed' the community. He also claimed the DMK's fear of losing Vanniyar votes after witnessing recent mobilisations had prompted renewed efforts to destabilise the PMK.advertisementViduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan, while reiterating his ideological opposition to the PMK, pointed out that it was the only non-Dalit party to add blue to its flag, erect statues of Ambedkar in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu, and include in its constitution a provision that the general secretary of the party must be a Dalit. 'It is sad that a party with roots in progressive politics is now looking to right-wing forces for mediation. In fact, movements like the PMK had played a key role in gatekeeping against the right wing in Tamil Nadu,' he said.Meanwhile, the emotional overture on Father's Day, though headline-worthy, did not bridge the chasm. Even as Anbumani held meetings in Thiruvallur and Chengalpet, his father convened a parallel gathering in Thailapuram, dismissing party general secretary Vadivel Ravanan—a known Anbumani loyalist—and appointing Murali Shankar in his place.advertisementIn fact, the seeds of discord were sown even before the current crisis, during the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Anbumani was reportedly inclined towards aligning with the BJP, hoping to leverage his 'development' image and national connections. In contrast, his father was said to favour an alliance with the AIADMK, with whom he shared a longer and more traditional political rapport. The disagreement widened the rift between the two.Ironically, with the BJP and the AIADMK now back in the same alliance ahead of the 2026 assembly election, the PMK is almost certain to join the front. But the unresolved leadership struggle raises a critical question: which Ramadoss will negotiate the terms. With the 2026 election fast approaching, the PMK risks entering the fray as a divided house.Subscribe to India Today Magazine