Stalin allays fears of dist chiefs over poll tickets

Chennai

Party sources revealed that in the meeting organised to pay homage to Anbazhagan on June 14, the party chief had told the district chiefs that they would have the last word in giving MLA tickets in the 2021 Assembly polls. A leader quoted Stalin as reiterating then that candidates recommended by the district secretaries would be accepted by high command. Also, the DMK chief had assured them that the district chiefs would also be given tickets next year.

The leadership has given his word three weeks ago, since Anbazhgan had told to Stalin’s face that engaging poll consultant was a misstep and they would abide by the diktats of the high command and not some smartphone fiddling youngster without political experience. Incidentally, this is not the first time Stalin had assured his leaders on them having the last laugh. A few months ago, the DMK chief had given a similar assurance to comfort his leaders who were perplexed over the high command engaging paid strategists instead of them. The latest assurance was necessitated by the friction between them and Prashant Kishor’s analysts in managing the togetherness campaign (Ondrinaivom Vaa).

A senior functionary reasoned that fielding all district secretaries might not be entirely possible because it would mean reserving more than a third of the seats to them. “He (Stalin) will stick to the old formula of giving ticket to the district secretary or a member of his family. Stalin’s assurance means selecting candidates based on the suggestion of the district secretary and not I-PAC.”

It might be pertinent to recall that I-PAC was tasked with identifying probable candidates, three per constituency, for the next Assembly elections. “Will he (Stalin) pick the candidate identified by the analyst or district secretary is the reason for friction. Exchange of ideas or passing instructions during Ondrinaivom Vaa is too trivial to disturb peace,” an insider said.