Delay by Captain’s party upsets AIADMK, BJP

Sources said BJP functionaries are upset with DMDK chief Vijayakant as the current uncertainty was delaying the NDA campaign. It may be noted that AIADMK minister D Jayakumar recently opined that the AIADMK will not be worried if the DMDK decides not to join them.

According to a senior AIADMK leader, the allotment of 7 and 5 seats to the PMK and BJP respectively is the thorn-on-the-flesh as the DMDK is determined to seek seats on par with the PMK. 

“The PMK has proved its vote share by contesting independently. Our top brass had conveyed to the DMDK that it will be treated on par with the BJP. Their unrealistic demands are eating into our time.” 

Furthermore, there is dissent among the sitting AIADMK MPs as half of them will be losing their constituencies to the allies. A sitting MP based in north Tamil Nadu is already upset as the PMK is eyeing his seat. If the alliance had been finalised by now, the party seniors would have had time to pacify the dissenting MPs, the source explained.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK which is conducting back to back meetings with party office-bearers and district secretaries shunted out two district secretaries and brought in new secretaries to head the party units in Tirupur and Nilgiris. 

A statement from the AIADMK headquarters said Assembly Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman was appointed the district secretary of Tirupur. State Minister Udumalai Radhakrishnan, who was earlier holding the post, was elevated as party organising secretary. In Nilgiris, the party appointed former MLA Buddhi Chandran as its new district secretary. 

In Thoothukudi, where the DMK had planned to field its heavyweight candidate Kanimozhi, the AIADMK decided to bifurcate its unit. Information Minister Kadambur Raju has been appointed the North Thoothukudi district secretary, while MLA S P Shanmughanathan will be south Thoothukudi district secretary, the statement added.