CHENNAI: It was on Wednesday that a proud Vaiko declaimed 104 of MDMK’s 106 voters including district secretaries, in-charges, high-level committee members and state-level functionaries ‘voted’ in favour of his son Durai Vaiko as a headquarters secretary of the party. While this may come as a relief to Vaiko, a section of MDMK functionaries and most of its former ones feel the move cost him credibility among the public.
V Eswaran, who quit his post as a youth wing secretary of MDMK following elevation of Durai Vaiko, said only eight DMK district secretaries supported Vaiko when he left the DMK in 1993, accusing the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of playing dynasty politics; the majority of district secretaries at that time, however, supported Karunanidhi. If Vaiko wants everyone to accept majority decision, he should have accepted the decision of DMK functionaries in 1993”.
According to Vaiko, his son attended various events and met cadre over past two years. “When he raised charges against MK Stalin in 1993, Stalin had already had nearly 13 years of experience as a youth wing secretary; he had also been elected to the Assembly in 1989 from the Thousand Lights by bagging over 50 per cent of polled votes,” said a former MDMK union secretary. It has thus become evident Vaiko split the DMK because he could not prevent Stalin’s rise, he said.
“Lakhs of DMK cadre ruined their career by following Vaiko without realising he was leaving the DMK out of vengeance. One can still see on the MDMK website that the reason for MDMK’s formation was to oppose Karunanidhi’s dynasty politics,” he added. Several DMK functionaries, too, tacitly seconded the former MDMK functionary, but refused to give statements as the MDMK and DMK are now in alliance.
One of the district secretaries of MDMK, on condition of anonymity, said lakhs of cadres quit the DMK to protest the injustice meted out to Vaiko in 1993. “But it’s not the right time to rake up old issues. Many supported Vaiko fearing the growing influence of youth-wing functionaries in the then DMK. Now, the MDMK is in dire straits. So, we voluntarily invited Durai to join the party.”