Chennai: Though the State Election Commission is yet to break its silence on when the much-awaited local body elections will be held, the DMK is no mood to take any chances. DMK working president M. K. Stalin himself is leading the charge in preparing party cadre for the grassroots poll by announcing more than a month-long interaction programmee with functionaries beginning from village secretary to district secretary from February 1.
The DMK is under tremendous pressure to perform well in the local body elections since this is the first major election that the party will face after Stalin took over as working president. The pressure has ratcheted after the party faced a humiliating defeat in the December 21 R K Nagar by-poll in which its candidate N. Marudhu Ganesh not only finished third but forfeited his deposit amount.
To prepare the cadres for the poll, to listen to their grievances and elicit their suggestions, Stalin will meet almost all major leaders in a district beginning February 1. The interactive sessions will be held at the Kalaignar Arangam in Anna Arivalayam, the party announced and added that it will end on March 22.
Stalin himself took to Twitter to share the schedule and announced that he would meet these functionaries. His lieutenant and senior leader Durai Murugan said the party was “fully prepared” to face the local body elections even if it is announced tomorrow.
“We are a serious political party, not a company. We have a structure and we keep reviewing our party performance and issue periodically. We are ready for local body polls, but is the AIADMK prepared to face the people? They are not prepared to go to the people,” Durai Murugan said.
Sources said the district-wise meeting with party functionaries ranging from village secretary to district secretary shows the DMK's seriousness in facing the local body elections.
Stalin will begin the session with Coimbatore city (North and South) and Nilgiris on February 1, followed by Coimbatore district (North and South) on February 2and Erode (South and North) on February 3. The session will end on March 22 with interaction with functionaries from Chennai North and East districts.
Polls to local bodies were postponed in October 2016 after the Madras high court stayed its conduct. Though the High Court has told the SEC to conduct the polls, the election body is dragging its feet citing several reasons.
“Though we are not sure when the local body elections will be announced, we don't want to take any chances. Since the party has come under severe criticism on its performance in R K Nagar polls, the leadership does not want to leave anything for tomorrow,” another leader said.
