The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), on Thursday, October 20, suspended its press secretary and senior leader KS Radhakrishnan. A notice issued by the party’s general secretary Durai Murugan said that Radhakrishnan was suspended because he “breached the rules of the party” and acted in a way that has been giving the party a bad name. The notice added that KS Radhakrishnan’s membership from the party has been temporarily suspended and he has been relieved of his duties. This action comes after KS Radhakrishnan shared a meme on Twitter with a photoshopped image of the newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with a caption that congratulated him for being elected as ‘Manmohan Singh 2.0’.
Mallikarjun Kharge was elected president of Congress on Wednesday, October 19. He is the first non-Gandhi president of the party in 24 years. The nine-time MLA from Karnataka’s Gulbarga emerged victorious by securing a margin of 6,285 votes over Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. While Kharge received 7,897 votes, Tharoor got 1,072 votes.
On October 4, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin urged DMK’s Ministers, MLAs and local body representatives to maintain dignity and discipline. He warned them that there will be no hesitation from his side to take action against those who indulge in improper behaviour. Speaking in the backdrop of the intra party elections, the Chief Minister urged the elected representatives to not act in a careless manner.
The Chief Minister said, “One should maintain dignity in your words and actions. Be careful in the choice of words, body language and attitude towards people who approach you for help. Especially local body representatives who are in direct contact with people, you should be doubly careful. I hope you will not indulge in any such acts that brings a bad name to the government.”