The organisational revamp in the ruling AIADMK effected by its leader Ms. Jayalalithaa has brought cheer to a cross-section of cadres in South Tamil Nadu while some veterans have been left disappointed.
Former Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan, who was stripped of the Dindigul district unit secretary post, also saw his brother-in-law R.V.N. Kannan making an exit as constituency secretary, with the party high command scrapping the post. Andipatti MLA Thanga Tamilselvan, who had three years ago openly blamed Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam of playing the caste card when he was ousted from the post of Theni district secretary, is back in the same post.
Mr. Tamilselvan replaces Cumbum Municipal Chairman T.T. Sivakumar, who has been accused by some sections of not actively working for the victory of S.K.T. Jakkaiyan in Cumbum, his home town.
In Tirunelveli, where the party won five of the 10 Assembly constituencies, the organisational revamp triggered wild jubilation among sections of the cadre. While the victory margin was comfortable in Vasudevanallur and Sankarankovil, it was only 462 and 49 in Tenkasi and Radhapuram respectively. And, the ruling party’s high profile candidates Nainar Nagenthran (Tirunelveli) and S. Sheik Dawood (Kadayanallur) lost by thin margins of 601 and 1,194 votes respectively.
‘Lack of killer instinct’
The reported “lack of killer instinct” is said to have cost some district secretaries their post. For instance, Tirunelveli city district secretary S. Muthukaruppan, his son M. Harihara Sivashankar and rural district secretary S. Murugaiah Pandian have been stripped off their responsibilities. Party sources allege that most Assembly election candidates received only 25 per cent of the amount released by the high command to meet poll expenditure and the rest was “siphoned off.” One of the affected candidates even forwarded a complaint to the high command saying that he received only a portion of the amount and was forced to give an undertaking to the ‘fund manager’ that he had received the entire money.
Information Technology Minister M. Manikandan, who is seen as the new face of the party in Ramanathapuram, has been appointed the district secretary. He outsmarted many senior leaders to get the coveted post, ahead of the much awaited local body elections. Dharmar, the incumbent, was removed though the party had won three of the four Assembly seats in the district.
Mr. Dharmar faced an embarrassing moment when he could not ensure the victory of Keerthika Muniasamy in his native Mudukulathur, though the party won Ramanathapuram, Tiruvadanai and Paramakudi.
Mr. Manikandan was incidentally not popular in party circles when he was its medical wing deputy secretary. His father, C. Murugesan, the current organising secretary, had been district secretary also. With the appointment of Dr. Manikandan as district secretary, the family has emerged all powerful. Mr. Murugesan’s first son M. Sasikumar is the deputy secretary of MGR Mandram and daughter in-law Kavitha Sasikumar is the district women’s wing secretary and vice-chairperson of Ramanathapuram Municipality.
(Contributions from P. Sudhakar in Tirunelveli, K. Raju in Dindigul and D. J. Walter Scott in Ramanathapuram).
In Tirunelveli, where the party won 5 of the 10 seats, the revamp triggered wild celebrations
