The three MLAs and seven district secretaries expelled from the Vijayakanth-led DMDK for denouncing the party’s alliance with the PWF, held a press conference on Wednesday to publicly protest their expulsion.

“We were expelled for just expressing the views of the party cadres to Vijayakanth,” said Erode strongman and party whip in the TN Assembly, VC Chandrakumar. “Many MLAs and district secretaries who had applied to contest the elections withdrew their applications after Vijayakanth joined hands with the PWF,” he added.

The dissidents had stated on Tuesday that the decision to align with the PWF went against the aspirations of the party cadre, whose sole aim was to unseat the Jayalalithaa government and that could only be done by aligning with the DMK.

The response from the party leadership was immediate. Barely an hour after the dissidents had held their press meet in Chennai, the party sacked them.

The dissident party members argued that their expulsion was not valid, since they were not issued any show-cause notices, and were not allowed to represent their side of the story. “When five of the nine disciplinary committee members are here with us, how can he (Vijayakanth) take action against us?” asked Chandrakumar. They also argued that the party president did not have the power to expel a district secretary. “There is no democracy in the party,” Chandrakumar said.

The dissidents accused Vijayakanth’s wife and DMDK women’s wing leader, Premalatha, of driving the party to ruin. “The party has slipped completely into Premalatha’s hands, and her decisions are now leading to party’s downfall,” they said.

As for the future, they say they are yet to decide on what course of action to pursue. “In one or two days we will meet all the functionaries from the grass root level and decide the future course of action.”