‘Give preference to all sections in allotment of posts in AIADMK’

Rubbing salt on the ongoing turbulence Jayalalithaa’s personal assistant S Poongundran has appealed to the AIADMK leaders to follow the footsteps of Amma and cement all the cracks that have appeared in the party. Poongundran, on his social media account, took a dig at the current leadership for sidelining the Brahmin, minorities and Dalit functionaries.

Amma gave representation to all communities respecting the Dravidian policy of social justice, but now there is slack in it. Prominent functionaries like V Maitreyan, Kumbakonam Ramanathan and Thanjavur Gopal are now sidelined. The priests hit by the lockdown openly fume that after the demise of Amma they feel that the AIADMK’s connect with spiritual people have withered, Poongundran said in his Facebook post creating a debate among the AIADMK workers.

The issue was also discussed by the office-bearers associated with the two factions of Tamil Nadu Brahmins Associations (Thambras). There are 40 lakh brahmins in the state and it is a known fact that the majority of them have always voted for Jayalalithaa since 1991. But, now the community feels that the AIADMK is acting against the feelings of Brahmins by opposing the Centre’s 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker forward caste communities.

Similarly, the failure to protect the temple properties and associated murders related to those fighting for temple lands have created a bad image among the community, a senior office-bearer who has served in the Thambras Association said, adding that the Brahmin vote bank will now shift towards the BJP or actor Rajinikanth.

An AIADMK senior talking about Poongundran’s idea, said that the post of district secretaries is different from that of a Rajya Sabha MP or an MLA. An intellectual can become a Rajya Sabha MP or can win an MLA seat during a political wave, but to be a district secretary you should be a well-grounded all-rounder with muscle and money power. The senior leaders have taken note of the issue raised by Poongundran and during the Assembly polls, the party will give adequate representations to both Dalits and Brahmins, he added.