Chennai: Continuing its action over allegations against party functionaries who worked against official nominees of allies and party candidates in the just concluded indirect polls to elect chairpersons of urban local bodies, the ruling DMK on Sunday suspended its MLA, Ko Ayyappan.
Ayyappan is suspended from the primary party membership and all other responsibilities as he violated party discipline and acted in a way that brought disrepute to the party, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan said in a party release.
The legislator belongs to Cuddalore east party district and represents the coastal Cuddalore Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu.
Also, the party's women's wing deputy secretary belonging to Coimbatore district, Meena Jayakumar, was also suspended for breach of party discipline.
Indirect polls on March 4 to elect chairpersons of municipalities and town panchayats, witnessed fights and high drama in several regions of the state and claims of 'cash' for vote too surfaced. Elected ward members of local bodies elected one among them as chairpersons and deputy chairpersons.
DMK ward members, violating the party's diktat, defeated nominees of alliance parties in a string of local bodies and allegations of fielding rebel nominees to take on official party candidates also surfaced.
DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin had condemned it and directed his party ward members who defeated official nominees to immediately resign from their posts. Stalin warned them that if they did not quit, they would be expelled from the party's primary membership.
Subsequently, the party began taking action against its functionaries connected to the row and Ayyappan has now been suspended.
The post of Nellikuppam municipality chief in Cuddalore district was among the allocation made by the DMK to ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. In Nellikuppam, however, a DMK nominee won.
Similarly, when DMK chose R Sundari as its mayoral candidate (she eventually won) for Cuddalore Corporation, it led to dissent and the decision was opposed by a section of party workers.
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