A day after their public spat, indicating the ongoing power struggle within the first family of OBC Vanniyar-dominant Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), party founder S Ramadoss and his son, Anbumani, president of the party, buried the hatchet and met to resolve their differences at the former’s residence in Thailapuram, near Villupuram, on Sunday.

Emerging after the meeting, which was attended by a few select senior party functionaries, Anbumani, a Rajya Sabha MP, made it appear that everything was hunky dory saying, “Our party is a democratic one and there will be free exchange of views. We will resolve the issues.”

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At the party’s annual General Body meeting, held on the outskirts of Villupurmam, Anbumani openly clashed with his father over the appointment of the party’s Youth Wing president. No sooner than Ramadoss senior announced the name of Parasuraman Mukundan, his grandson from his eldest daughter, Gandhimathi, Anbumani opposed it on the stage. “He joined the party only four months ago and he is being elevated to this post. What experience does he have? He does not even pick up the phone. Let those with field experience be appointed. Yet another appointment from the family should not be made,” he said.

Not heeding his son’s protest, Ramadoss made it clear that the buck stops with him, and it is he who calls the shots. “The party was started by me. Abide by my diktat, or leave the party. Nobody can change my decision to appoint the Youth Wing president,” he retorted to Anbumani. At being slighted, Anbumani grabbed the mike and announced to the audience, “I have an office at Panaiyur (on the outskirts of Chennai); you can meet me there anytime.” After giving his phone numbers, he threw the mike and left the venue in a huff.

It was in this backdrop that the Thailapuram meeting was held to iron out differences between the father and the son. According to party sources, it was decided to accord primacy to the party founder before taking crucial decisions and Anbumani had to swallow the bitter pill. It was evident when he parried questions on the appointment of Mukundan. PMK insiders maintain that Ramadoss senior, who continues to run his political fiefdom not from Chennai but from his farmhouse at Thailapuram, would not backtrack on elevating his grandson.

Anbumani, a former Union Minister, was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate when the party decided to plough a lonely furrow in the 2016 assembly election. However, it failed to win a single seat, securing only around 4 percent vote share. However, he was elevated as president in 2022, considering his father entering the sunset years. But the two had differences over forming electoral alliances and the father was very much worried about the party’s support base among the Vanniyars, dwindling in its core area of northern Tamil Nadu. The party is now a constituent of the BJP-led NDA.