Sarath, Radhika change script midway, now under Amma’s direction

Theni adjoins the Andipatti constituency from where Amma is contesting. According to party grapevine, Amma had the actor and his wife flown down by a private aircraft to ensure there was no delay in the actor joining the party.

Hailing from the ‘Nadar’ caste, Sarath brings along with him a chunk of the community votes in the southern districts. In the wake of simmering differences between him and the DMK leadership, he quit the party on April 10, alleging he was being ‘‘insulted and humiliated’’ by Karunanidhi’s family members. He had quit the AIADMK and joined the DMK in 1998 after he married Radhika.

The actor also resigned as member of the Rajya Sabha today, to which he had been nominated in 2001.

Radhika, now a popular television artiste, owns the Radaan TV Corporation, a television programme content company, which is currently running a successful serial, Selvi and a gameshow on Sun TV.

In a survey that he conducted, more than 80 per cent of respondents, including fans, indicated that ‘‘his place’’ was with the AIADMK. ‘‘Hence I decided to join the party,’’ the actor said, expressing appreciation of Jayalalithaa’s ‘‘efforts in serving the people of the state’’.

As to whether Radaan TV Corporation would continue providing content to Sun TV, owned by the Maran family, Sarath pointed out that it was for Sun TV to decide.

According to sources, the actor decided to quit the DMK disappointed after being ignored for a ministerial berth following the 2004 Lok Sabha election. Apparently, the DMK leadership was also against his continuing his acting career. The last straw was the DMK’s refusal to allocate seats for his supporters in the Assembly election.

The actor would be campaigning for the AIADMK in the southern districts.