Chennai
“With the news spreading that team Sunil is involved in preparing the tentative candidates list, several party old-timers, including former MLAs, have started fuming and a few are also trying to reach out to the PR team seeking their support to ensure MLA ticket for them,” said an ex-MLA.
“I am regularly attending the party meetings chaired by AIADMK leaders OPS and EPS, but a senior colleague advised me to meet the PR team that is close to CM, which I will not do,” said another aspiring MLA in north Chennai. The party district secretaries and aspiring MLA candidates have started spending money on campaign trails attended by the CM and if they come to know that the private companies are going to shortlist the candidates, the party will witness dissent, senior leader said.
“The DMK has engaged Prashant Kishore and we are doing the same mistake. Across the country, the poll strategy companies are charging money in crores. Earlier the political leaders believed in the cadre and not the strategists. The political vacuum left by leaders like Amma (Jayalalithaa) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) has helped such companies to mushroom in TN,” opined Poonga Nagar Selvam of North Chennai MGR Mandram.
An informed AIADMK senior said that the candidate list making rounds on social media is a rumour. There are a couple of strategists and private IT technicians working for the party to run the campaign and they will have no role in the candidates list, the MLA list will be prepared by coordinators and joint coordinators, he added.
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