V. Senthil Balaji, the former Transport Minister regarded as a close aide of AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, was on Wednesday closeted with his key supporters at his office in Karur to chalk out his plan, amid rumours that he would be joining the DMK.

Mr. Balaji, who was elected from Aravakurichi in November 2016, also visited his constituency during the day and evaded questions from the media over reports of his switching allegiance to the DMK. He merely stated that he would make his position known later.

Members of the AMMK have been left perplexed over Mr. Balaji’s reported shift in party loyalty. Some sources said that efforts had been made to prevent him from leaving the party, but M. Rangasamy, AMMK treasurer, who was reportedly deputed by Mr. Dhinakaran himself to placate the rebel leader, could not meet him.

Mr. Balaji joined the AIADMK in 2000, before which he was with the DMK. Six years later, he got elected from the Karur constituency, defeating the DMK’s formidable district secretary Vasuki Murugesan. In 2011, when the AIADMK returned to power, he became Transport Minister.

Till his removal from the Cabinet in July 2015, Mr. Balaji was considered to be in an unassailable position.

The former Minister, who lost the post of Karur district secretary about three-and-a-half years ago, was asked to take on K.C. Palanisamy of the DMK in Aravakurichi during the 2016 Assembly polls. Though he emerged successful in the election in his new constituency, which took place in November that year, he could not get back into the Cabinet.

Power dynamics

As for the affairs of the AIADMK in Karur, he had to negotiate with two prominent figures — local Member of Parliament and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai and the present Transport Minister, M.R. Vijayabhaskar — who have become more powerful in recent years. This was among the factors that pushed him towards the Dhinakaran camp.

Moreover, ever since the death of Vasuki Murugesan in November 2009, the DMK has not been able to find a local leader who could match the AIADMK functionaries in the district.

It was against this backdrop that senior DMK leader K.N. Nehru, who hails from neighbouring Tiruchi district, had suggested to the party leadership that efforts be made to rope in the former Minister. Mr. Nehru and DMK Karur district secretary Nanniyur Rajendran are expected to be in Chennai on Thursday.

Cadre exodus

Meanwhile, in apparent protest over Mr. Balaji s reported move, about 150 cadre of the AMMK from Karur and Aravakurichi returned to the AIADMK, in the presence of Mr. Vijayabhaskar. They included Manikandan, union secretary of Aravakurichi, and Senthil Kumar, town secretary of Aravakurichi.

In Chennai, A. Subramanian of Ramanathapuram, the AMMK s organising secretary, joined the AIADMK in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, according to a party release.