MADURAI: A Muslim outfit has fired a volley of allegations at the DMK for denying adequate representation to the community members in the recently-held organisational polls.
Attacking the party for making ‘tall claims’ of being the protector of minorities, Islamiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJC) put posters across the Temple City, condemning the Dravidian party for giving a raw deal to the community members.
“Are Muslims enemy to you? Why has DMK ignored the community in the inner party election?” reads a poster, facsimile of which have been pasted on all major roads in the city. Not stopping at this, the IJC goes on to urge the Muslims to stop supporting the DMK.
“The DMK high command always claims to be the protector of our rights, but the activities of party’s city unit disproves such tall claims. In the organisational polls held recently to elect ward secretaries for 100 wards in the city corporation limits, only three Muslims were elected. Not even a single Muslim was elected for 14 circle secretary posts,” claimed Hussian, district secretary of IJC.
The DMK denied representation to Muslims even in pockets like Therkuvasal, Kazimar Street, Mapalayam, Goripalayam, Ismailpuram, Sandaipettai, Nelpettai and Subramaniapuram, where the community members lived in large numbers, he claimed.
Admitting that Muslim functionaries were ignored in the inner party polls, a senior DMK functionary, who defected to Stalin camp recently, said, “Sidelining the minority community members would have a direct bearing on the party fortunes in the forthcoming Assembly elections. Of the 247 Jamaats functioning in the city, around 70 support DMK. However, this issue would corrode the support base.”
Another trend that attracted backlash was the representation given to those with criminal antecedents, claimed a senior DMK functionary. “For instance, newly-elected ward secretaries Kannan and Thirumurugan are historysheeters. Same is the case with O Velumurgan and ‘Lathe’ Siva,” he alleged.
Recalling the days when M K Alagiri used to select candidates for the organisational polls, the DMK functionary said that the Madurai strongman used to give proportional representation to cadre from different religions and castes, besides never encouraging anti-social elements to enter the fray.
“In the previous election, more than 20 Muslims were given ward secretary posts and a considerable number of circle secretary posts too were allotted,” he claimed.
Washing hands of the organisational polls in the DMK, Alagiri told Express over phone, “Why should I worry about the party? The high command has written me off from the primary membership.”
Meanwhile, G Thalapathi, head of the six-member committee that manages party affairs in the City, said, “We have elected three Muslims for ward secretary posts and a few high-level posts.”