Drastic changes needed for DMK to regain western districts, feel insiders

For, west has proven to be an Achilles Heel for the DMK, which had lost over 80 per cent of the seats in the eight districts in the western Tamil Nadu stretching from The Nilgiris in far west to Krishnagiri to the arch rival AIADMK.

If one were to go by the 2016 Assembly election statistics, it would be no understatement to describe western Tamil Nadu as AIADMK’s gateway to Fort St George as the principal opposition party DMK had only managed to win a fifth of the seat (12 of 57, including the two seats ally Congress had won in Dharapuram and Ooty) there, gifting away 45 seats to their nemesis.

The strike rate of Stalin’s DMK in the textile-hub Coimbatore and Tiruppur is a paltry 10 per cent. The 88-MLA strong DMK, even party insiders admitted, should have done more than replacing just one district secretary in Coimbatore where it won the lone Singanallur seat. That the party has not disciplined the functionaries enough despite suffering a 50,000 plus margin defeat (fielded ally MMK) against incumbent Local Administration Minister SP Velumani in Thondamuthu in 2016 sufficiently explains the frustration of perturbed cadre there. The mood of the cadre is no different in Tiruppur, where the party thought changing a few union secretaries even after winning only one of the six seats should suffice. In Erode, which was the venue of the recently concluded party zonal conference, Anna Arivalayam did not do much, its inability to even open the account in 2016 notwithstanding.

As regard mango town Salem, the little said the better. Once considered a DMK citadel, more so during the hay day of late Veerapandi S Arumugam, who had won all but one seat for Karunanidhi’s DMK even when Jayalalithaa was alive and kicking, Stalin has left the district untouched, that too when he was expected to reprimand his lieutenants, who have quadrupled the party factions there.

“There are at least three factions in Salem district, which has maximum of 11 seats in the entire west. Barring 2011 Assembly election, when we were reduced to 23 seat legislature party, we have always done well there. But, infighting has turned the tables on us. Now, we have just one MLA from Salem. All because of lack of coordination between district secretaries. Salem was the only party district which did not go through effective revamp even a couple of years ago when Stalin doubled the party districts. Nothing has been done now either,” a senior functionary requesting anonymity told DT Next.

Refusing to argue that the three-member committee headed by TR Baalu had not recommended party reorganisation in the west, another district secretary in northern Tamil Nadu argued, “The leadership has stonewalled the suggestions of the committee. If the party would suggest changes in Coimbatore and Namakkal, why would it overlook Erode and Salem? Even in Namakkal, leaders have sacked an in-charge district secretary and reinstated Stalin’s loyalist Gandhiselvan. If the leaders continue to shield non-performing sidekicks and if they do not take some difficult decisions in the coming months, it could cost us again in the ensuing election. Cosmetic changes will not help. Functionaries will not deliver if they don’t feel threatened for inaction.”