Confident DMK discussing portfolios; post-poll organizational shake up

CHENNAI: In an election proving to be challenging even for seasoned poll pundits and punters to place their wager, the DMK seems to be oozing confidence.

Top leaders of the DMK seem to be supremely confident that the INDIA bloc the party is a part of would definitely capture power.

The confidence was so high that the DMK top brass was said to have discussed the post-poll organizational shake up in the party and the likely cabinet berths it could successfully lobby for in the event of the INDIA bloc forming a coalition government.

If sources in the party are to be believed, the DMK top leadership had recently discussed the favourite portfolios it could secure in the alliance, including a few plum portfolios the party had held in the two tenures of the United Progressive Alliance.

With at least two more phases of the ongoing Parliamentary polls pending in the country, the DMK top ranks were said to have discussed the probable MPs securing cabinet berth in the party. Names of party treasurer T R Baalu, deputy general secretary A Raja and a couple of junior MPs were also said to have featured in the informal preliminary discussions. DMK insiders privy to the discussions disclosed that the party was wary of the fact that it was a difficult election to predict, but the party had weighed its options.

However, one aspect the DMK big wigs had no dilemma pondering over was the likely shake up in the party organization post-polls.

The high command is believed to be actively contemplating the downsizing of a couple of party districts for organizational convenience and restoring balance of power in a few party districts.

DMK sources revealed that a few youth wing functionaries and a couple of MLAs close to influential minister Udhayanidhi are lobbying hard to bifurcate a couple of party districts with close to half a dozen Assembly constituencies.

Another youth wing functionary from a western district and state-level youth wing functionary from down south were also understood to have made the moves to extract their share by splitting the existing party districts.