Thoppu Venkatachalam. File

| Photo Credit: M. Govarthan

Former DMK Erode Central district secretary Thoppu Venkatachalam alias N.D. Venkatachalam, who was removed from the post a few days ago, on Monday (August 31, 2026) announced his decision to quit the party.Addressing reporters at Perundurai, Mr. Venkatachalam, who was previously a Minister in the erstwhile AIADMK government, said he would write to the DMK leadership conveying his decision to resign from the party’s primary membership. “I thank the party leadership for giving me the post of Central district secretary. I am leaving the DMK as I can no longer continue in the party owing to the mental anguish caused by my bitter experiences,” he said.‘No plans to join any other party’Mr. Venkatachalam said he had no plans, for now, to join any other political organisation and was not making efforts to move to another party. He said he had no complaints against former Minister S. Muthusamy (a local DMK strongman) and wanted to move forward without blaming the past.Expressing concern over the lack of development of the Perundurai constituency, he said it was unfortunate that the segment had become backward. He said there were shortcomings in projects such as the Perundurai-Kodiveri Combined Water Supply Scheme and the Athikadavu-Avinashi project.‘Have great respect for Stalin’Mr. Venkatachalam said DMK president M.K. Stalin had shown immense affection towards him, and that he continued to have great respect for Mr. Stalin. He said his future activities would focus on supporting the development of the Perundurai constituency.Mr. Venkatachalam, a former AIADMK Minister, represented Perundurai in the Assembly after winning the constituency in the 2011 and 2016 elections as an AIADMK candidate. He was denied an AIADMK ticket in the 2021 Assembly election, contested as an Independent, and was subsequently expelled from the party. He joined the DMK in July 2021.In the 2026 Assembly election, Mr. Venkatachalam contested the Perundurai constituency as the DMK candidate and polled 60,609 votes. He was defeated by AIADMK candidate S. Jayakumar, who secured 70,302 votes, winning by a margin of 9,693 votes. Mr. Jayakumar, who later resigned from the party, joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Published - August 31, 2026 11:55 am IST