FRICTION CONTINUES AMONG RANK AND FILE IN DISTRICTS EVEN AFTER `UNIFICATION’ OF REBEL MLAs

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesofindia.com

Chennai: AIADMK’s efforts to rebuild the organisation after `unification’ of the rebel MLAs in the party is facing a twin challenge. If departure of senior leaders to TVK was one, friction between the re - inducted leaders and functionaries who were appointed in the place of the rebels has emerged as another challenge.

Newly appointed district secretaries are facing resistance from the rebel MLAs who happen to be more influential in the respective regions. ``The MLAs are not cooperating,’’ said a functionary from Pudukottai, where former minister C Vijayabaskar, who backed the TVK govt during the trust vote in the assembly continues to hold meetings with his supporters. Vijayabaskar was one among the 30 odd district secretaries removed from the post by AIADMK general secretary for supporting TVK.

Though the rebel MLAs patched up with EPS, they were not given the party postings again. Many of these MLAs continue to function independently, breaking the chain of command at the district level.

The situation was evident in Coimbatore. Newly appointed district secretary S M Velusamy assumed charge on Sunday, but senior leader S P Velumani, who was sacked from the post, stayed away from the event. ``I had invited him. But he expressed his inability to attend,’’ Velusamy said. Velusamy’s supporters also skipped the event. Appealing for unity, Velusamy urged cadres to stop targeting rebels on social media.

“The situation remains the same in other districts too,” said an AIADMk leader from Chennai.

The recent exit of regional power centres such as Udumalai K Radhakrishnan and M S M Anandan from Tiruppur, Kadambur C Raju from Thoothukudi, and M C Sampath from Cuddalore has further dented AIADMK’s organisational strength in the respective districts.

The departing leaders have taken with them a sizeable section of cadres and local-level functionaries, weakening the party structure at district level.

“Cadres are morally down because of this internal fight. There could be more functionaries leaving the party in the coming days. Some are planning to wait till local body elections,” said a senior AIADMK functionary in Tirupur.

Though, EPS had appointed his supporters in the place of the sacked district secretaries, the new functionaries are struggling to inspire the demoralised cadres. For instance, former MP C Sivasamy was appointed district secretary of the Tirupur suburban unit, considered a low profile leader compared to Udumalai Radhakrishnan and MSM Anandan. ``“Sivasamy is an experienced politician, but he has been away from active politics for several years. Rebuilding the organisation after such turmoil will be a tough task,” said an AIADMK functionary in Tirupur.