Unhappy with the party leadership for rejecting his request for a position for his son in the Vellore district unit in the party’s organisational polls, senior DMK leader Duraimurugan has offered to resign as deputy general secretary. However, the leadership has not accepted his offer, insiders say.
This is the second time Mr. Duraimurugan’s efforts to get a position for his son, Kadir Ananth, have failed. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he wanted the party to field his son in Vellore. Initially, the leadership seemed interested in allotting the seat to him, and even told the ally, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), that it could not get the constituency, which it had won previously. However, Mr. Ananth could not get it.
With the filing of nominations for Vellore district to begin on December 13, Mr. Duraimurugan’s attempt has failed again.
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Asked how a leader of Mr. Duraimurugan’s stature could make such a demand when office-bearers were elected only through elections, a senior party leader said he had only sought permission for his son to file nomination.
“How can the party prevent a candidate from filing nomination? Probably, he could have sought the blessings of the leadership which will clear the path for his son,” said a senior leader.
Of late, the DMK has been avoiding appointing wards of leaders to various posts so as to avoid caucus and to bring in new faces. The party’s youth wing leader, M.K. Stalin, who toured the State to interview candidates for various posts, nominated fresh candidates, leaving out the close relatives of senior leaders.
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Later, the party established a six-member committee to consider creating more district units to limit the area of control by the district secretaries and introduce new faces. The committee recommended creation of 65 districts, to the chagrin of the district secretaries who have been a force to reckon with in their area for years.