Tamil actor and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Rajya Sabha member R Sarath Kumar on Monday resigned from the party, alleging that his opinions are being ignored and ridiculed by a section of the leadership.
In a letter to party president M Karunanidhi, a copy of which was released to the press, he said he was unable to stomach the 'insults and humiliations' heaped on him and on his wife and actress Radhika by some leaders in the party.
'Our hard work has been ridiculed and my opinions are not heard in the party. A few in the party are bent on seeing that our views are rejected. I am of the firm view that a person, who lacks self-respect and freedom of expression is not a human being at all.
'But in your party, there is no place for it as it needs only slaves, who do not open their mouth. Under these circumstances, the only way left for me is to get relieved from the party,' he said in his letter.
Sarath Kumar said in the letter that he had informed Karunanidhi about the state of affairs and alleged that it was the handiwork of the relatives of the DMK chief.
'But you were unable to control them,' Sarath Kumar told Karunanidhi in his letter.
The political lessons learnt from Karunanidhi, his fans and his community (Nadar, a backward community in south Tamil Nadu) would help him in his future political career, he said.
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However, he was silent on his Rajya Sabha membership.
According to sources, Sarath Kumar, a relative of media baron Sivanthi Adithan, has been nursing a grouse against the DMK as he was not considered for a ministerial berth at the Centre.
The actor, who was with the AIADMK initially, switched over to the DMK in 1996. He contested the 1998 Lok Sabha polls from Tirunelveli on a DMK ticket, but was defeated. He was later made a Rajya Sabha member in 2001.
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