The iron gates of S. Ramadoss’s bungalow at Thailapuram, in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district, remain closed. A few men in white shirts and black trousers step out after a press conference. A pair of elephants carved from stone flank the porch. Traditional brass lamps glow softly by the front door, which opens into a courtyard. In the foyer, a portrait of his son Anbumani Ramadoss, dressed in a trench coat, hangs above a rocking chair draped with a white towel. Clad in a white shirt and dhoti, Ramadoss emerges from his room.
“What is the time now?” he asks his assistant. “4.30pm?” The founding leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi glances at the portrait, smiles and says, “I am on time.” As the conversation begins he says, “It is time. Ask her where she is.” His daughter Sree Gandhi Parasuraman, the newly appointed working president of the PMK, walks in. “You should be on time,” he reminds her.
The PMK, once a formidable political party rooted in Vanniyar assertion and social justice, is deeply divided today. Ramadoss and Anbumani have been in an open conflict since April. A party built on community mobilisation and careful alliance politics has fractured from top to bottom. Each district now has two parallel sets of office-bearers, one loyal to the father and the other to the son.
In April this year, Ramadoss removed Anbumani as president of the party and took charge himself while naming his son working president. In retaliation, Anbumani expelled his father and declared himself the legitimate leader. Anbumani convened a general council meeting on August 8, asserting that he would remain president until internal elections in August 2026. It was the first major party meeting held without the founder. A month later, Ramadoss expelled his son from the primary membership of the party and appointed Sree Gandhi as working president.
According to the Election Commission of India, however, Anbumani is the recognised president of the PMK and Ramadoss is listed as an ordinary member. None of the recent announcements made by Ramadoss, including his daughter’s elevation, appear in the EC’s records. “The Election Commission has made a mistake,” says Ramadoss.
The Election Commission has informed the Delhi High Court that it cannot allot the PMK’s official symbol, the “Mango,” to either the Anbumani faction or the Ramadoss faction during an ongoing election cycle. This clarification came after Ramadoss approached the court, alleging that the Anbumani group had misled the Commission by submitting incorrect documents.
He says the party remains with him. “All the senior leaders who were with me when I floated the party, including our honorary president G.K. Mani, are still with me. The general council meeting called by Anbumani has no value since it happened days after he was removed,” he says. Asked whether the EC’s stance was deliberate, he replies, “I told you it was a mistake. The Election Commission will reverse it soon. We have submitted all the supporting papers.”
Sree Gandhi listens quietly, wearing a faint smile. Despite being the working president of the party, she spends most of her time attempting reconciliation between her father and brother. “I will not give up,” she says. She approached Anbumani and urged him to meet their father and apologise. “He refused.” Anbumani, aware of his father’s temperament, believed an apology would not be accepted. But she insists it would have changed everything. “He is from an older generation, but he loves his son more than anyone. Had Anbumani come and apologised wholeheartedly, this would have been resolved in minutes.”
The PMK emerged from the Vanniyar reservation movement of the 1980s, when the Vanniyar Sangam led by Ramadoss organised protests across north Tamil Nadu. Twenty-one people died in a major agitation in 1987. The PMK was formed in 1989 and soon entered the assembly. Since the early 1990s, Ramadoss has aligned with both the DMK and the AIADMK in various elections, based on his electoral calculations. In 2004, he secured a Rajya Sabha seat for Anbumani through the DMK. Anbumani joined the Manmohan Singh cabinet as health minister.
But the party’s influence has been fading since then. Anbumani’s political strategies faltered, and the PMK’s positions on caste issues and inter-caste marriages alienated many voters. In 2014, Anbumani won the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha seat as part of the NDA, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not include him in the cabinet. Two years later, he was projected as the PMK’s chief ministerial candidate but he lost the Pennagaram assembly seat. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, contesting as part of the AIADMK-led NDA, the PMK lost even its strongholds. Although Anbumani entered the Rajya Sabha courtesy the AIADMK, he remained without a cabinet role.
Five years later, Anbumani’s wife Sowmiya contested from Dharmapuri, despite the AIADMK’s exit from the NDA. After her second-place finish, there was sharp internal criticism, which angered Anbumani. “He cannot take criticism,” says Ramadoss, who did not campaign actively for Sowmiya.
The rift intensified after Ramadoss appointed Sree Gandhi’s son Mukundan Parasuraman as the PMK youth wing leader. Anbumani denounced it as dynastic politics, despite his own rise being shaped by his father. Ramadoss says, “I regret it now. I made him a minister. I made him win elections. I made a mistake. I chose someone with no leadership qualities.” Both he and Sree Gandhi hint at Sowmiya’s role in widening the divide. “She is one of the reasons for the split,” says Ramadoss.
Tensions had existed for years, usually settled quickly when Anbumani’s mother was in better health. After her illness worsened, Sree Gandhi stepped into the role of mediator. The 2024 defeat and arguments over Sowmiya’s candidacy drove the final wedge. A property dispute has also fuelled the estrangement. “I am not after power or money. I do not even have ten thousand rupees in hand. Had I wanted, I could have held a high constitutional office,” says Ramadoss.
Diwali at the Thailapuram home, once a festive event, was bleak this year. “On my mother’s birthday my brother came home for a minute and left,” says Sree Gandhi, who visits the house every morning after her husband leaves for his hospital in Tindivanam. “Amma needs help. I also do party work based on appa’s instructions.” As the eldest sibling, she is learning politics through party workshops, just as Anbumani once did.
Reconciliation now seems distant. Ramadoss believes remaining with the BJP will not benefit the party, while Anbumani argues that the BJP is the future of Indian politics. Ramadoss says his daughter would run the party with compassion. “A leader must take criticism. I have always asked my cadre to criticise me.”
Legally, Anbumani appears stronger. “The Election Commission has recognised Anbumani as president, Vadivelu Ravanan as general secretary and Thilagabama as treasurer. It has accepted the extension of Anbumani’s tenure until August 2026. Only Anbumani can sign Forms A and B,” says K. Balu, lawyer and spokesperson for the Anbumani faction.
In the upcoming assembly elections, Ramadoss wants to align with the AIADMK under Edappadi K. Palaniswami while Anbumani wants to stay with the NDA. With the AIADMK now back in the NDA, both factions may find space. Each has demanded seats separately. Interestingly, some reports suggest that the Anbumani faction has sent feelers indicating interest in joining the alliance led by actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. While Anbumani attacks the DMK and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Ramadoss praises Stalin’s loyalty to his father. “He pushed his father’s wheelchair. He never fought with him. My mistake was giving the mantle to my son,” he says.
Sree Gandhi, however, is still hopeful. She points to Anbumani’s portrait behind her. “There was a big family photo there. Appa did not want that. But he wants this photo. I still hope they will reunite.”