Ticket to Veeramani shocks Vellore cadre

Former PMK Anaikattu MLA M Kaklaiarasu who is not even a month old in the AIADMK being allotted the same constituency under the AIADMK banner has riled old timers who now hope that Poes garden will change the list to include those who are sure to win the battle.

A person who lost out here was former LEPC (Leather Export Promotion Council) chairman and former state agriculture minister M. Panduranagan who had applied for the Anaikattu and Ambur seats.

Asked about his nonselection, Pandurangan’s comment was, “I would prefer to remain a loyal party man.” Most partymen refused to talk politics over the phone fearing that their phones might be tapped.

Party sources wonder at the choice of Vellore candidate P. Neelakandam who had literally eschewed politics and faces a court case for irregularities in the Vellore cooperative milk producers’ association when he was its chairman. “There are better qualified and good candidates like S Jayaprakash, former Kuppam panchayat president (Vellore Panchayat Union) who started the practice of partymen paying the required party fee to have Amma contest in their constituency,” reveals a party source.

Sholingur and Katpadi candidates NG Parthipan and SRK Appu respectively were removed from district secretary’s posts recently. Fielding a “junior” in Katpadi, a stronghold of DMK principal secretary Durai Murugan is asking for trouble, insiders say. 

While Veeramani, through such candidates has ensured that his writ runs large in the district, it remains to be seen whether ‘they’ will bring home the bacon.