MDMK chief Vaiko's once trusted lieutenant breaks silence: ‘I prefer poison to be called traitor'

The Print

15-07-2025

'I have been working for the MDMK with a sense of commitment to its ideology. I am not the reason for the unusual developments in the party,' Sathya said, accusing Vaiko of deliberately attempting to finish his political career.
No other loyal worker should be humiliated with such 'unfounded accusations' and it does not befit Vaiko's stature in public life, he claimed.
Chennai, Jul 15 (PTI) Sidelined MDMK leader Mallai Sathya, once a trusted lieutenant of the party chief Vaiko, has opined that he preferred a bottle of poison rather than being called a 'traitor' by his party leader on whom he had immense trust.
In a strongly worded statement on Monday, titled 'Breaking my silence,' he said the party leader could have cited some other reason. 'But to sacrifice my honest political life for the sake of your son and call it 'betrayal' – that word from you wounds me deeply,' he said.
'He (Vaiko) could have told me something else or could have asked me to take a bottle of poison and die. I would have died. Instead, he made a remark that has left a deep scar in me,' he said.
On July 10, Vaiko accused the party's Deputy General Secretary, Mallai C E Sathya, of indulging in anti-party activities for two years. 'He (Sathya) has close ties with those who left the party and criticise me. There are four people posting against me on social media, and they are living abroad. Mallai Sathya provides them the content,' Vaiko told reporters at the airport here.
Sathya, who was with Vaiko for three decades, said he was anguished over being said he betrayed Vaiko like LTTE leader Prabhakaran was backstabbed by Mathaiya. It was unfair to equate his political differences with an act of treachery, he added.
Vaiko ensured a truce between his son Durai Vaiko, who is the party's principal secretary, and Sathya following differences over Durai's elevation in the party in April. But trouble arose in the MDMK when Sathya's name and photo did not figure in the banners of the party's meeting at Poonamallee here on July 10.
Breaking down in a televised interview to a Tamil news channel – Puthiya Thalaimurai on July 14, Sathya said 'it has been five days since I slept. I am worried about society's perception. But I will come through all of this. Vaiko has raised me like a warrior. I will prove my genuineness to the public.' He further said, 'I will come out of the fire ring. As a leader, he might have made a mistake but as a father he has done the right thing for his son, which I understand. I wish him success in politics. …I will march forward with my goals and aspirations.' PTI JSP ADB
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