Chennai, Jul 11 (IANS): P.R. Sundaram, one of the four AIADMK MLAs in the Tamil Nadu Assembly after the party's rout in the 1996 Assembly elections, and a close associate of late J. Jayalalithaa, on Sunday left the party and joined the DMK.

Sundaram has not been keeping a good relation with the present leadership of the party after he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2019.

The veteran leader joined the DMK at the party's state headquarters, Anna Arivalayam in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

He has been a vocal supporter of the AIADMK during the troubling times for the party and his exit will not be taken well by the party cadres.

After joining the DMK, the senior leader said that former Chief Minister, K. Palaniswami had turned into a "dictator" in the party while O. Panneerselvam, also a former Chief Minister, has turned into a "mere puppet" in his hands.

Sundaram said that the AIADMK has turned into a "party of sycophants" and that those who speak out against the leadership (Palaniswami) are being sidelined and then kicked out from the party.

The former Member of Parliament also said that the caste factor has reared its head in the AIADMK and that the senior leaders are not doing anything to clear this issue.

He said that he will work shoulder to shoulder with the cadres and leaders of the DMK and that he would develop the DMK in his ancestral town.