Durai Vaiko resigns as principal secretary of MDMK

Durai Vaiko. File
| Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) MP Durai Vaiko on Saturday (April 19, 2025) announced his decision to step down as the principal secretary of the party. The leader said he would not like to continue in the post “when a person, who could not stomach my elevation in the party, derived pleasure in creating a bad name for the party and its leadership in the last four years.”

“I will participate in the administrative committee meeting of the party on April 20, and after that, I will not participate in any meeting that will involve taking important decisions,” said Mr. Durai Vaiko, who is the son of party founder Vaiko.

Though he has not named the person responsible for his decision to step down from the principal secretary post, party sources said there was a difference of opinion between Mr. Durai Vaiko and MDMK general secretary Mallai Sathya.

Mr. Durai Vaiko, despite Mr. Vaiko’s resistance and objection, was first appointed as the headquarters secretary, before his elevation as the principal secretary. He had the backing of 104 out of the 106 general administrative council members.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Mr. Durai Vaiko said he took the decision to quit the party post to ensure that neither the party nor its founding father (Vaiko) suffers any damage to their reputation.

“I will continue to function as a prominent cadre of the party and remain a comrade of the partymen and office-bearers. I will also perform my duty as the member of the Tiruchi Lok Sabha for the benefit of the people of the constituency,” he said.

He called upon the office-bearers of the party to continue the work carried out by him in the last seven years and protect Mr. Vaiko from being hurt, as he had “suffered a lot in politics already.”