Chennai
Duraimurugan, who met Stalin moments before the meeting on Monday was taken aback when Stalin had sought to know his choice of dummy candidate. A shocked octogenarian, Duraimurugan, had reasoned that they would be extra careful this time and Kathir Anand’s wife Sangeetha would be the ideal dummy candidate again. Curiously, Stalin was learnt to have subtly expressed his disapproval by suggesting that they should be prepared for any eventuality, before drawing the Treasurer’s attention to the complaints sent against Kathir and rival AC Shanmugam of AIADMK to the Election Commission.
Pertinently, shortly before the election was rescinded in Vellore in April last, Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) candidate there had sent a detailed representation to the EC against both the DMK and AIADMK candidates regarding splashing of cash by them for elections. A wary Stalin had warned Duraimurugan that the rivals would ‘plot’ something more than push for rescindment of election against Kathir this time and it would be a safe bet to field an experienced party functionary as dummy candidate in Vellore, a DMK senior privy to the development revealed.
The impromptu conversation has confirmed rumours that the leadership had a second thought about Kathir Anand’s candidature for the August 5 election. Local party workers who were hopeful that Sangeetha, who had done most of the campaigning when Kathir Anand and Duraimurugan were bogged down with I-T raids in April, would be the natural choice of dummy candidate were caught off guard after the private conversation became public.
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