The opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam got a shot in the arm on Sunday when former Tamil Nadu assembly speaker Sedapatti R Muthiah joined the party along with his followers.

Mud-slinging on in full swing

Muthiah, who became the Speaker when the Jayalalithaa ministry assumed charge for the first time in 1991, had also been a Union minister in the Vajpayee government in 1998 before he resigned in the wake of framing of charges in a disproportionate wealth case against him.

He attracted the wrath of Jayalalithaa when he did not cast his vote on the confidence motion moved by the Vajpayee ministry in the Lok Sabha in April 1999 in the wake of withdrawal of support by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

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Expelled from the AIADMK in April 2000 along with a few others for 'anti-party activities,' he was convicted by a court and sentenced to 25 months in the wealth, leading to disqualification of his nomination in the 2001 assembly elections, which he sought to contest as an independent.

Muthiah called on the DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and joined the party by presenting a shawl to him at the party headquarters.

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Later in a brief chat with the press and in a statement, Muthiah said he was now feeling sad that he and his supporters were forced to function for a few years under a leadership known for its high handedness.

"We were like children who were lost in a festival but subsequently fell in the clutches of a gang leader," Muthiah said on his return to the parent body. He claimed there were several others like him waiting to return to DMK 'very soon' from southern districts.