Officials ‘prepare’ to switch loyalty

Officers of key departments like highway, PWD and revenue have called on local DMK heavyweights in some districts. If sources in the principal Opposition party are to be believed, even a couple of district Collectors in western Tamil Nadu have met the secretaries of DMK in the respective districts to renew their ties. Taking cue from their executive bosses in the district, a few senior PWD, highway engineers and even revenue officials have reopened their channels with influential MLAs and functionaries in their districts. A few wavering officers were learnt to have also been influenced by the correspondence between the AIADMK chief whip and Speaker in connection with the activities of three AIADMK MLAs. The whip notice, officials suspect, has vindicated the fears of the ruling dispensation which believes that reducing the overall tally could help scrape through in the event of a floor test in the House. Even a few senior bureaucrats were understood to have expressed apprehension about the way polls have panned out across the country thus far.