EPS asks dist secys to list probables for polls
Chairing a meeting with the party district secretaries for nearly an hour on Tuesday, Palaniswami directed the district secretaries to give names of two to four winnable candidates from their respective district
EPS at the district secretaries' meeting. Daily Thanthi
CHENNAI: In a bid to announce the list of party candidates for the Lok Sabha polls ahead of its archrival DMK and its front - INDIA bloc, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami instructed the district secretaries to give a list of potential candidates at the earliest. Palaniswami hinted that the list of candidates would be announced in February itself.
Chairing a meeting with the party district secretaries for nearly an hour on Tuesday, Palaniswami directed the district secretaries to give names of two to four winnable candidates from their respective district.
Palaniswami, according to the party insiders, wanted to announce the candidates for the LS polls ahead of other parties. “He wanted to announce the candidate list in Amma (Jayalalithaa) style and insisted the list should be announced in the first or second week of February. He asked the district secretaries to work hard to win at least 20 seats in the LS poll,” said a functionary privy to the closed-door meeting.
“The party will give opportunity to functionaries, who worked untiringly and candidates with winning possibilities in the polls. He also urged the district secretaries to maintain cordial relationships with alliance parties,” the functionary said quoting EPS. After the meeting, Palaniswami held another round of discussion with his close associates SP Velumani, P Thangamani and a few others from the Western region.
Left with no formidable alliance partners, Palaniswami asked district secretaries to bury their hatchets with estranged party men and make efforts to ensure their return to the party.
EPS has also sent across a clear message to senior leaders that they should take care of the electioneering works and expenditure for the proposed candidates. They should be held responsible for the outcome of election results in their region, said a functionary.
At the end of the meeting, EPS asked the district secretaries to stay in Chennai for the day with a message that some of them would be called for a meeting later in the day at his camp office.