Reporter’s diary: The curious ‘benevolence’ of senior DMK functionary

A senior woman functionary in the DMK is reportedly leaning on the Congress leadership in the State to demand Chennai South constituency, which was part of the wishlist that the national party submitted to Anna Arivalayam. If sources are to be believed, the senior woman functionary is persuading Congress seniors to keep Chennai South high on their agenda while discussing choice of seats. This at a time when the DMK leadership has asked a person hailing from an established DMK family to apply for this very seat. On the day the probable candidate filed application for South Chennai ticket, messages were reportedly exchanged between the senior woman functionary of DMK and Congress leaders over this.

Thus, thanks to the support from within the influential inner circle of the regional party, Congress heavyweights like Khusbhu Sundar, ‘Karate’ R Thiyagarajan and CR Kesavan are now making a strong pitch for the coveted Parliamentary seat, though four of the six Assembly segments in the constituency are held by the principal opposition party. DMK insiders who are watching the curious rat race within the party admitted that the senior functionary was trying to spoil the chances of the other person, ostensibly fearing that the latter could draw the attention of those in the national capital in the event of winning the seat.