Subbulakshmi’s exit revives chances of DMK ministers in party posting

CHENNAI: The exit of former DMK deputy general secretary Subbulakshmi Jagadeeshan appears to have revived the aspirations of a couple of party leaders in western Tamil Nadu. DMK leaders there are making a bid for elevation in the party ranks, ostensibly, to the level of deputy general secretary by capitalising on the recent vacancy necessitated by the resignation of Subbulakshmi.

Grapevine has it that three prominent DMK leaders, including two Ministers, are lobbying hard for the post. They are relying on caste dynamics to curry favour with the party high command. Informed DMK sources disclosed that the state Housing Minister S Muthusamy and state Information Minister MP Saminathan are making the moves for the elevation in the hope that the high command would engage them to provide representation to the Goundar community they hail from.

While Muthusamy from Erode had been subtle, his junior cabinet colleague from Tirupur is vigorous in reaching out to the high command “The West has been the prime focus of the high command since the successive poll setbacks in the last decade. The leadership is keen on widening its base in the western districts, where Goundars are a sizeable lot. There is a need to accommodate a prominent party leader from that community to negate the influence of the AIADMK whose prominent leaders belong to the community. DMK Ministers from that region are trying to use it to their advantage,” said a party senior on condition of anonymity.

“The leadership is sure to replace Subbulakshmi with another woman leader, mostly Kanimozhi, to ensure gender parity. So, the number of deputy general secretaries in the party must be increased at least by one. The western leaders are hoping the high command would do the (caste) balancing act,” reasoned another state level DMK functionary.

Significantly, the ambitious Ministers are facing resistance from their turf too. Another debutant Minister is stone-walling the Ministers moves fearing that their rise could blunt his stature there.