The much-awaited appointment of office-bearers for various posts in the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was announced on Friday night.
The apppointment follows a meeting of senior ministers that took place at the party headquarters on Thursday evening.
Nineteen organising secretaries, providing a good mix of persons from the camps led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, were named.
Among them were former Ministers Panruti S. Ramachandran, C. Ponnaiyan, Natham R. Viswanathan, S.P. Shanmuganathan, S. Gokula Indira and R.S. Rajakannappan; Ministers Dindigul C. Srinivasan, K.A. Sengottaiyan, D. Jayakumar and C. Ve. Shanmugam, Member of Parliament V. Maitreyan and former legislators J.C.D. Prabhakar and P.H. Manoj Pandian.
At present, Mr. Ponnaiyan, Mr. Prabhakar and Ms. Gokula Indira are spokespersons of the party.
Vaigaichelvan, another spokesperson, had been made the party deputy propaganda secretary.
North Chennai split
The party’s unit for North Chennai (North), under which Dr. R.K. Nagar Assembly constituency falls, had been bifurcated into North Chennai – North (East) and North Chennai – North (West) units.
It was in Radhakrishnan Nagar that the ruling party lost to its rebel T.T.V. Dhinakaran in the December bypoll.
North Chennai Member of Parliament T.G. Venkatesh Babu had been made secretary for North Chennai – North (West), which would cover Kolathur and Villilvakkam, and R.S. Rajesh, North Chennai – North (East), taking care of Perambur and R.K Nagar.
After the ruling party’s defeat, a number of reasons was cited, one of which was the way the North Chennai MP had handled the by-election work.
New district secretaries were appointed for the units of Tiruchi Urban, Thanajvur North, South Chennai (North), Vellore (East) and Theni.
The prominent among them were P. Kumar, MP, for Tiruchi Urban; R. Doraikannu, Agriculture Minister, for Thanjavur North and S.P.M. Syedkhan, former MP, for Theni.
An interim committee to look after the affairs of the Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai, the party’s labour wing, had been re-constituted. S.T.K. Jakkaiyan, Cumbum legislator, had been made convener of the committee.
Posts in wings for youth, MGR Mandram, women and fisherfolk were also filled, according to a release from the party.
