A meeting of the high-level committee of the DMK on June 2 will take stock of the situation and analyse the grass-roots level factors that contributed to one of the party’s worst electoral debacles.
As the meeting will precede the 91 birthday celebrations of party patriarch M. Karunanidhi on June 3, the DMK is unlikely to take any harsh or penal measures, as it could upset the mood of the festivities, party sources here indicated. The party has organised a public meeting in connection with Mr. Karunanidhi on June 3 evening.
“In the first place, the high-level body does not have any powers to make changes in the organisation. As we are clueless about our defeat, we have convened the meeting to get some insights into our poor performance. Once we zero in on the major factors behind our defeat, we will later go ahead with the general council and executive committee meetings to chalk out future plans to overcome the shortcomings,” said a senior leader.
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He explained that any discussion on a major issue like electoral defeat would be incomplete without the participation of district secretaries. The high-level committee is represented only by a handful of district secretaries.
An outcome of the meeting could be the bifurcation of big districts such as Villupuram, Vellore and Tirunelveli to make them more efficient, an exercise the party had experimented with. While it resulted in the creation of more district units, it also diminished the control of a few individuals over a vast area.
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Another leader said selective action against district secretaries would create unnecessary heartburn as in most of the districts now secretaries were the loyalists of party treasurer M.K. Stalin, who spearheaded the election campaign.
“There are districts where the party secured only third place. These district secretaries are also his loyalists. Anyway, he had offered to resign, owning responsibility for the defeat,” the leader said, discounting the possibility of any drastic action now.