Chennai: Post RK Nagar debacle, both the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK have begun post-mortem with Chennai party functionaries involved in election works and the micromanagement campaign which failed in congested north Chennai. “The booth-level votes secured and what let the votes go down were some of the issues the party functionaries have been asking the field workers, but the usual confidential report submitted to Poes Garden seeking action is now a thing of the past,” said a former AIADMK councillor from Chennai.
Though leaders OPS and EPS joined hands, cadres never synchronised at the bottom and there were also cases of functionaries refraining from the campaign during the last three days after being induced by the rival TTV camp. As a first and last step, the district secretaries who worked for TTV have been removed from the primary membership of the party and the party has left the issue without further action, said a former woman councillor.
On the other hand, supporters of TTV Dhinakaran also allege that those who worked for the pressure cooker symbol in RK Nagar are now being threatened and targeted by the ruling party functionaries. “The anger against the Centre and the state worked for us and the voters in RK Nagar believed the leadership of TTV Dhinakaran, but the ruling party is irritated with our functionaries and they are being threatened on a daily basis”, said former Chennai corporation floor leader Sukumar Babu. “Almost all the booths saw a 20 to 50 per cent increase in vote share when compared to AIADMK and we will soon have a gala celebration thanking the voters,” he added.
The DMK, which chose to not to lure voters, had also collected the votes secured in each booth and also have enquired about the large-scale reduction of its vote bank in Kasimedu fishing hamlet. But till now there has been no action against party poll managers for the debacle.
There is no need for any party to probe into the reasons why they lost RK Nagar. The predominant fishermen community was angry with the Centre and state for not addressing the issues related to fishermen and the small-scale traders in north Chennai were upset with GST and both these strong factors consolidated the victory of TTV Dhinakaran, said Nanjil Ravi, spokesperson, Akila Indhiya Meenavar Sangam based in Kasimedu fishing harbour.
AIADMK expels over 130 TTV supporters
Determined to act against those owing allegiance to rebel leader TTV Dhinakaran who decimated the official nominee in RK Nagar bypoll, ruling AIADMK on Friday sacked 132 functionaries, including a former MP, from the party. In a joint statement, AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami said the 132 party functionaries are being sacked from their primary membership for “bringing disrepute” to the party.
The sacked functionaries are from Pudukottai, Dharmapuri and Tirupur, which topped the list with 65 expulsions. The two leaders said in a statement that 49 persons from Pudukottai and 18 from Dharmapuri units were also being removed as they went against the party’s principles and brought ‘disrepute’ to the AIADMK.
“They are being removed since they went against the party’s principles and brought disrepute to the AIADMK,” they said in the joint statement and asked party workers not to have any truck with them. Those sacked included former Tirupur MP C. Sivasamy. Stung by the R K Nagar bypoll defeat, the ruling AIADMK on December 25 cracked the whip against nine party functionaries. The two leaders had then sacked four of Dhinakaran’s aides as district secretaries, while expelling five others.
On Thursday, the party removed 46 functionaries from the AIADMK and relieved two from their posts. The move came after Palaniswami and Panneerselvam told reporters on Monday that action would be taken against every functionary who went against the ruling AIADMK.
Speaker P.Dhanapal swears in T.T.V. Dhinakaran as R.K. Nagar MLA in his chamber at the secretriat in the city on Friday. (Photo: DC)
TTV can’t harm AIADMK: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
“Even if a thousand (TTV) Dhinakaran(s) emerge, nothing can be done to (destablise) the AIADMK,” Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said here on Friday evening, responding to the rebel AIADMK leader’s assertion that his “sleeper cells” would come onto ground in the Assembly.
In a brief chat with journalists at the airport here after his arrival from Chennai, Palaniswami accused opposition parties of trying to gain “political mileage” by spreading canards against the government and said he cannot comment on alliance with BJP since there was no election in the near future.
“There is a concerted campaign to malign the AIADMK Government by spreading canards against it. Since the government is functioning without any hiccups, everyone wants to spread falsehood against the dispensation. No one destabilize the government,” Palaniswami said.
On Tughlaq editor S. Gurumurthy’s remarks against him and his deputy O. Panneerselvam, the Chief Minister said the issue was close since the senior journalist has himself clarified that he did not use the word in the wrong sense.
He also said he cannot respond to questions that were speculative in nature when reporters sought his response on whether the AIADMK would align with the BJP since there were contradicting statements by his cabinet colleagues – Sellur K Raju and K. T. Rajenthra Balaji. While Raju warned against any such alliance, Balaji saw nothing wrong in the event of the two parties coming together.
“You need to ask them…Or else I need to ask them…these questions are speculative in nature. Talk of alliance comes only when there is an election. Alliances are decided only during elections and there is no election in the near future,” he said.
When asked to comment on Dhinakaran’s often repeated statement that his sleeper cells would get activated during a vote in the Assembly, the Chief Minister gave a cryptic response. “Even if a thousand (T T V) Dhinakaran(s) emerge, nothing can be done to (destablise) the AIADMK,” he said.
To a question on Rajinikanth’s possible entry into politics, the CM said he would not respond to such questions. But, he added that anyone could take the plunge in politics in a democratic country like India. “Let him come first and I will respond,” he said.
