Chennai, Mar 24 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Wednesday welcomed suspended DMK leader M. Chinnasamy back to the AIADMK fold.

Inducting Chinnasamy at a public function at Karur, Palaniswami said that he would be given all the respect and position he had in the party and will be at home in the AIADMK. The DMK is a political party controlled by a family and true political workers don't have a place in it, he added.

Chinnasamy, a former AIADMK MP and three term-MLA, had joined the DMK ten years ago and was currently state Secretary of its farmer's wing.

He was suspended from the DMK for "anti-party activity" after issuing a full page advertisement in vernacular daily, stating that his true work with the DMK was not recognised. Chinnasamy was trying to contest from Aruvakurichi constituency but the party ticket was allocated to R. Ilango, son of former MLA Mojanur Ramaswamy, at the insistence of Karur district co-ordinator and former Minister Senthil R. Balaji.

Talking to IANS, Chinnasamy said: "Yes I am back home. AIADMK is a party with a lot of freedom and democracy and I was suffocating inside the DMK. DMK leader M.K. Stalin is remote controlled by some forces and I think bygones are bygones... it is a fresh start for me."

The AIADMK stands to gain with Chinnasamy's return as he is considered as a grass root leader and a good organiser among farmers.