DMK may formally inform consent to accept MLAs’ pay hike

The principal opposition party had refused to accept the pay hike effected by the ruling AIADMK during the standoff between the government and transport workers.

DT Next had reported early this month that the principal opposition party would change its stand and accept the pay hike. The party had got its labor wing LPF to even pass a resolution during the last fortnight, asking DMK legislators to accept the increase given the upward revision of transport workers salaries done by the government in tune with the order of the Madras High Court. LPF has given a letter to the DMK high command to this effect.

A senior legislator of the party requesting anonymity reasoned that they had never denied hike and they were only opposed to MLAs taking pay hike when the same issue was a bone of contention between the government and transport workers. “We had only refused to accept pay hike till the government resolved the pay hike issue with the transport workers. Now that the government had accepted their demand, we are ready to take the upward revision,” a senior DMK leader who had collected Rs 55,000 and odd last month told under condition of anonymity. If sources are to be believed, the difficult decision did not come off that easily. The DMK high command was not favourably disposed to accepting pay hike, but the leaders almost gave in to the demand of MLAs who were cribbing about them taking home less than their counterparts in the ruling party.

Unsurprisingly, a few ‘outspoken’ DMK MLAs were even confiding to their media friends that the high command has the wherewithal to deny hike, but their pockets were not deep enough to reject it.

The representation has influenced the high command sufficiently. We are expecting a representation to be made to the Assembly secretariat shortly, said a DMK MLA.