Sidelined leaders hope for a comeback in party

Among them are former Mayors of Coimbatore Corporation S.M. Velusamy, T Malaravan and P Rajkumar. Some of them were stripped of their position in the party while some others were not given a seat to contest in the assembly elections this year. “There were four power centres when Ms. Jayalalithaa was in power. And only through them any information could reach ‘ Amma ’. But the information was filtered and only those that they found fit was passed on to her. ‘ Chinnamma ’ (Sasikala) and associates have a network deep rooted in all districts. Nothing can be hidden from them,” a sidelined leader told DTNext. 

The functionary said that the deserving side-lined functionaries were active at the local level and were silently doing their groundwork. They said that the existing leaders and functionaries as well as those hoping a comeback would be travelling to Chennai in the next few days to get an idea about the happenings in the party’s top level and plan their moves accordingly. “It would take more than a week to get a grip of what is happening there,” a functionary said.

Candidates: Party sources also strongly feel that the candidates list for the local body election would not be the same as announced earlier. The local minister was the most powerful person in the district, followed by the district secretaries and the MLAs. They decide the candidates for the various positions from ward councillor to Mayor. “Some of the candidates were newly brought into the party while seats were not given for long time loyalists. We hope this too would change,” he said.

Ramachandran (45) of Athikuttai near Annur in Coimbatore District who attempted self immolation by dousing himself with kerosene on Monday night succumbed to injuries on Thursday. The police said that he was associated with the party from 2008 and was also the local vice-president of one of the party’s wings. On hearing the news about former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s demise, on Monday night, he cried bitterly. Fellow villagers pacified and sent him home. But in a short time, he set himself ablaze on the Athikuttai Main Road. He was rushed to the Mettupalayam Government Hospital and was later referred to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. Ramachandran who suffered 90 per cent burns was being treated in the burns ward, where he died on Thursday evening. His family was upset as no AIADMK functionary had come to see him and console them in the hospital for four days. After an autopsy, his body was handed over to his family.