Former Speaker Dhanapal announces exit from AIADMK

P. Dhanapal. File | Photo credit: L. Srinivasan

Former Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal announced on Thursday (May 21, 2026) that he is no longer with the AIADMK.

After attending the swearing-in of his son and Rasipuram legislator D. Logesh Tamilsevan as a minister in the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led cabinet at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai, Mr. Dhanapal told reporters that the AIADMK leadership did not attach “importance” to him. “They (the leadership) ignored others. Now the people have ignored them,” he quipped, adding that he was angry at the current state of the party as he had been with the organization from the beginning.

Mr. Dhanapal, who served as Speaker from October 2012 to May 2021, was the Minister for Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Cooperation, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection from May 2001 to November 2002. The 76-year-old veteran was elected to the Assembly on seven occasions in 1984, 1987, 2001, 2011, 2016 and 2021.

Earlier this week, another AIADMK veteran and former minister S. Semmalai quit the party.

Published – 21 May 2026 15:26 IST