Former AIADMK MP V Maitreyan joined BJP on Friday. Maitreyan was previously with the BJP till early 2000 but later quit the saffron party to join AIADMK. He is also the son of Indian Independence activist KR Vasudevan.
According to ANI, "Former AIADMK MP V Maitreyan joins BJP in the presence of BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh."
Joining BJP, Maitreyan expressed confidence that the "lotus" will bloom in Tamil Nadu in 2024 and 2026, when Lok Sabha and assembly polls are due respectively.
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In his early days, Maitreyan was a member of RSS. In 1991, Maitreyan became an executive member of the BJP in Tamil Nadu. From 1995 to 1997, he served as General Secretary of BJP's Tamil Nadu unit. Later, he held several high posts before resigning from the party in 2000.
In the same year, he joined AIADMK. He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha thrice. He was also a close aide of former TN CM Jayalalithaa. However, he was expelled from the primary membership of the AIADMK party in 2022.
AIADMK General Secretary Palaniswami ousted Maitreyan by citing his "anti-party activities and attempts to bring disrepute to the party". Maitreyan was the Organising Secretary of AIADMK before his expulsion.
Maitreyan was born on November 21, 1955. He completed his school education in Madras. He later pursued medicine at Government Medical College in Nagpur.
He did his MD in Medical Oncology from Madras Medical College and DM in Medical Oncology from Cancer Institute in Chennai.
(More details are awaited)