The DMK high-command is continuing its crackdown against district secretaries who were allegedly responsible for the party’s poor performance in the recent Assembly polls.
On Sunday, the party’s Theni district secretary L. Mookaiah was relieved from the post and M. Jayakumar was appointed as in-charge of the party unit in the district.
“Mr. Mookaiah held the post for many years. He proved ineffective as the party was not able to win a single seat in Theni district and all the four seats went in favour of the ruling AIADMK,” said a senior DMK leader justifying his removal.
ADVERTISEMENT
The party has so far removed seven district secretaries to ensure “effective functioning”.
‘More might be removed’
“A few more district secretaries will also be removed. A team constituted by the high-command is touring the districts and eliciting opinion from party candidates and other senior leaders. We are taking action only based on the report of the team,” the senior leader said.
ADVERTISEMENT
While the DMK’s poor performance in the Western region of the State contributed to its defeat, its confidence in winning some seats in a few districts was dented by the alleged indifference of the respective district secretaries.
“We know well that a few district secretaries deliberately stayed away from working for some candidates as they feared that the latter would become ministers in the event of DMK securing a majority. How do you expect the high-command to remain a mute spectator to the betrayal of these district secretaries,” asked a former minister, who did not wish to be named.
Even though district secretaries had always been a force to reckoned with, over the years, they became all-powerful, making it difficult for the high command to rein them in. Subsequently, the districts were bifurcated and trifurcated to reduce the span of control of the old secretaries.