MADURAI: Supporters of expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri have ridiculed the high command’s decision to restructure the party after listening to the grievances of cadre. The decision was announced during Monday’s high-level working committee meeting chaired by party patriarch M Karunanidhi.
“Prior to the parliamentary election, when Anjanenjan repeatedly urged the high command to address the grievances of the party cadre, it refused to listen to him. Instead, the high command suspended him from the DMK,” said close aides of Alagiri. The top brass didn’t stop with it. They expelled Alagiri, who questioned the autocratic behaviour of party treasurer and his younger brother MK Stalin and the rationale behind his issuing party tickets to people who were willing to pay more and to many former AIADMK functionaries.
When the DMK lost all seats, Stalin enacted a drama by submitting his resignation owning moral responsibility for the defeat, only to withdraw it a few hours later.
“Now they are asking the cadre to express their grievance openly. How will an ordinary cadre come forward to put forth his/her grievance when the high command expelled the party chief’s son who raised the same issue,” wondered some Alagiri supporters.
“We have past experiences of district secretaries and senior party leaders wreaking vengeance on cadre who exposed irregularities in party affairs. Now, Stalin and his family members are controlling the party. How can they expect us to raise issues against senior leaders. The announcement is just an eyewash,” said a local DMK functionary.
K Esakkimuthu, the DMK’s former Madurai Urban District Presidium chairman and a long-time associate of Alagiri said that Stalin rose in the party only with the support of the second-rung leaders. “Unlike Alagiri, he has never had direct interaction with cadre. At this juncture, if the party attempts to restructure itself without the involvement of Alagiri, Stalin will only be misled by a few senior party leaders,” he added.
He further said that when Alagiri was the South Zone Organising secretary, he made the party win three by-elections. “Alagiri never aimed for the CM’s post. He always thinks about the party. He knows how to get work done from cadre,” he added.