Karuna Amman quits TMVP wants to join SLFP

Karuna quits TMVP

  

Party however says Karuna has been removed over failure to show cause

By Jamila Najmuddin

With the TMVP deadline expiring today for parliamentarian Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman to show cause why he described the Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan as incompetent and the members as barbarians, Mr. Muralitharan yesterday asserted he had no intention of explaining or being a member of the party any longer.

Mr. Muralitharan told Daily Mirror he together with some party seniors had quit the TMVP and would hold talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa next week for the purpose of obtaining SLFP membership.

“I have quit the TMVP along with a lot of other members. We no longer identify ourselves with it. Instead we are waiting to join the SLFP and as soon as we get permission from the President, we will convert all our TMVP offices to SLFP offices,” Mr. Muralitharan said.

He said with most of the TMVP senior members supporting him, the only ones left in the TMVP were Mr. Chandrakanthan and a few of his supporters.

Mr. Muralitharan said some of the others who would obtain SLFP membership were Iniya Bharathi, Mangalam Master, Jeyam and Markan.

However the TMVP  dismissed reports that other members,apart from MP Karuna,  had left the TMVP .

The TMVP also said it had met last evening to discuss Karuna Amman’s failure to show cuase over his comments on some of the TMVP members and had decided to remove him from the party.

Last week TMVP members said Mr. Muralitharan would be ousted from the party if he failed to explain by today the disparaging statements he had made on the party leader and the members and that his party membership would be cancelled.

 But he is yet to officially inform the party he had quit.  “After February 17 he will no longer be a member of the TMVP if he does not give us an explanation.

After that what he does is his decision,” a TMVP source said. TMVP Spokesperson Azath Maulana told the Daily Mirror that with Mr. Amman’s chances to show cause expiring last night, he has been removed from the party with immediate effect.

However, TMVP General Secretary A. Kailesvararajah said the TMVP Central Committee will meet today and take a final decision on the future course of action to be taken against Mr. Amman.