There was a sense of déjà vu, with yet another character from Tamil Nadu’s house of cards walking towards Jayalalithaa’s memorial for prayer and then making a grand announcement. But this time, it was neither OPS nor Deepa, and this twist was entirely unexpected and surprising. J Deepa’s husband, Madhavan, announced late on Friday evening that he will be launching his own political party.
Clarifying that Deepa’s outfit is just a ‘peravai’, the MGR Amma Deepa Peravai (MAD Peravai), he said that he would be launching a political party independently. He said that ‘evil forces’ were influencing Deepa and that she was not able to run her outfit independently. He refused to name these ‘evil forces’, but denied it was the DMK when asked.
He said that he was starting the party after having the support of people for three months and on their demand.
He clarified there was no difference between him and Deepa, and that they would continue to live in the same house. He dismissed questions on divorce. He said Deepa knows about his plans to launch the new party but had expressed no opinion about it. “I will function alone, not along with her,” he said.
He also dismissed rumours about him having met with TTV Dhinakaran before taking this decision. “I am not with anyone, I am not taking any sides, I will be alone,” he asserted.
When asked if he will contest in the RK Nagar elections, he said that he will go by the people’s will.
He also said that he has been getting several threatening calls. “Yes, I have always been getting threatening calls. When did I say I am not being threatened, I have got many anonymous calls,” he said, adding that he will take names at the right time.
He said he will announce the name of the party in a few days.