DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin has urged the party high command to give more Assembly election tickets to the cadres who are in the youth wing of the organisation. He made this demand while addressing the general council meeting on Wednesday through video conferencing.
Though this could be seen as a natural demand on the face of it, it has strengthened the belief in the party that Udhayanidhi has been given undue importance in the party.
Murmurs are there that Udhayanidhi’s clout within the party is growing as he is being given too much importance. He is said to have interfered in the party matters to the extent of affecting the recent appointment of a district secretary in Chennai which apparently led to the defection of DMK MLA KK Selvam. MLA of Thousand lights constituency in Chennai, Selvam was said to be unhappy with Udhayanidhi.
The DMK leaders will see more interference from Udhayanidhi during the elections next year. However, sources say that the DMK members in different districts will be given posts in the districts so as to stop the possible defections from the party in view of the assembly polls next year.
This also has created apprehension that senior party leaders’ influence will be curtailed and a situation might arise where they may have to compete with others in the district to secure tickets for the legislative elections.
The murmurs are evident in the party due to the uprising of Udayanithi Stalin inside the party and when Stalin addressing the Council, he even appealed the cadres to keep away all their differences and work for the victory of the party
It was expected that DMK MP and Women Wing Secretary Kanimozhi will also be given a higher post in the party, but her position was left unchanged. The DMK media wing released images of Udhayanidi Stalin from the general council even before releasing the pictures of the President or other leaders.
Meanwhile, the DMK general council dubbed the AIADMK government as “anti-people” and vowed to dislodge it from power and make party president MK Stalin as Chief Minister by winning the Assembly elections next year.
The party unanimously elected veteran Duraimurugan as general secretary and senior leader T R Baalu as treasurer. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and seasoned party leader K Ponmudi were elected as deputy general secretaries.