DMK meet to focus on political scene in Tamil Nadu

Though a statement issued by party general secretary K Anbazhagan has claimed that the ensuing platinum jubilee celebrations of the DMK mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ and NEET issues would top the agenda, party insiders admit that the meeting would focus on the fluid political situation in the state, mainly after the presidential election.

Thursday’s programme could be the second meeting of district secretaries to be held without DMK president M Karunanidhi, who has been confined to his house since December 2016 when he had returned home from the hospital after undergoing tracheostomy treatment. 

Party sources, who are in the know of things about the meeting, said they would also deliberate on the long pending local body elections among other things. 

“It does not look like there would be a significant political change in the state now, but the district secretaries would air their views on what the people expect from DMK,” said a party senior requesting anonymity. 

Though the district secretaries would dare not raise sensitive issues that could get on the nerve of the incumbent leadership, the meeting could also ponder over popular public perception that the DMK led by Stalin has not been able to unseat an unpopular and divided AIADMK. 

One district secretary requesting anonymity said the party’s functioning in the Assembly has not impressed many.

“How long will the Speaker hide behind Dalit tag? If we could not prevail over Speaker Dhanapal and debutant chief minister K Palaniswami and register our opposition, how can we win public mandate? The DMK people know more than merely staging a walk out and giving a sound bite to waiting media. It should set the agenda inside the House, which we have not been doing of late,” said an old timer requesting anonymity, conceding that though no district secretary would dare question the party’s functioning in the House, which would mean doubting the plans of Stalin, the district bosses would ask the high command to be more active in its politicking.