DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan was on Monday evening removed from the post by party general secretary K. Anbazhagan.

Though there was no official explanation for the move, party sources said it should be seen in the backdrop of his recent interactions with the media wherein he expressed certain views without the approval of the high command. “These viewpoints should have ideally come from the leadership. Even on Monday he spoke to a TV channel on the issue of the unveiling of Karunanidhi’s statue at Anna Arivalayam,” said a party leader.

Mr. Elangovan had been the DMK spokesperson for many years. It may be recalled that in 2015, the party, under the leadership of the then president M. Karunanidhi, had distanced itself from Mr. Elangovan’s comments on the number of seats it would contest in the 2016 Assembly polls. Later, Mr. Elangovan submitted a letter to Karunanidhi, apologising for “violating party discipline and airing views on sensitive issues”.