At 88, Ramadoss leaves politics, ending era that reshaped Tamil Nadu’s reservation debate, its caste politics

Every political movement eventually confronts the same question: what remains after the founder decides to stop speaking? On Saturday, as he turned 88, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr. S. Ramadoss attempted to answer that question with unusual simplicity.“I am retiring from politics,” he told party workers gathered at Saraswathi College near Tindivanam. “From today, I will not speak about politics or interfere in political matters. Anbumani will take care of politics. His wife will also support him. Those who come to meet me should not discuss politics with me.”The declaration, delivered during a birthday programme that also marked the planting of 88 saplings, formally transfers the political movement he built over four decades to his son, PMK president Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss. Citing