Key Points
Its been nearly three years since his party AMMKs near-wipeout in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls sent Dhinakaran, a former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader, into political hibernation...
With the state set to vote for its 39 parliamentary seats on 19 April and the AMMK now in alliance with Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dhinakaran, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Theni after 20 years, has been pitching himself as the only Mukkulathor leader who can act as a hotline between Thenis voters and the central government...
According to political analysts, theres a larger game plan in Dhinakarans resurgence and his newfound allies the leader trying to consolidate all anti-AIADMK votes before the 2026 assembly polls...
A Mukkulathor leader from Mannargudi in Tamil Nadus Tiruvarur district, 60-year-old Dhinakaran made his electoral debut in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Periyakulam (now part of Theni constituency), an area dominated by the Mukkulathors...
Even after 2017, when the places connected Dhinakaran and his family members were raided and sealed, he did not mince his words against the BJP, Barakath Ali, quoted earlier, said, adding that the former AIADMK leader even snubbed the BJP during the 2021 assembly polls...
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