CHENNAI: Days after reports started doing the rounds about Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan quitting his post as the IT wing secretary of the DMK citing workload, speculation is rife about the leadership mulling infusing fresh blood into the party and relieving several ministers of their party posts to make them discharge their administrative responsibilities more effectively.
The renewed push for the plan, which was tried by the party when it was in power in 1996-2001, comes against the backdrop of reports about the leadership still being undecided over accepting PTR’s resignation letter and several DMK leaders vying to grab the coveted post.
“PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan had openly admitted during a Zoom meeting with the IT wing functionaries two months ago about his inability to pay attention to the wing because of his ministerial responsibilities. The minister made it clear that he wanted to be relieved from the party post as he has to set right the State’s fiscal position hit by the abject mismanagement of the AIADMK government,” said a DMK source close to the leadership and IT wing functionaries.
Though he has not openly disclosed his move, the minister has also not denied the reports about his resignation shared on social media, which adds credence to the reports. A state-level leader of the party told TNIE, “I don’t know whether he submitted his resignation or not. But the leadership is already thinking about relieving ministers from party posts in line with the example set by former chief minister M Karunanidhi in 1996-2001 when ministers were relieved from district secretary posts ahead of the 2001 Assembly general election.”
The decision to appoint new district secretaries did not work out in 2001 since it was taken just a few months before the elections. Keeping that in mind, the leadership now wants to appoint seniors in the respective districts as secretaries well ahead of the next parliament election. This may mean that except C.Ve. Meyyananthan, Mathivendhan, Kayalvizhi, and Selvaraj, all other ministers may lose their party posts. Another State-level leader of the DMK also said the resignations would mean a new beginning for the party.
Four hold state-level posts
Four Cabinet ministers — Durai Murugan, KN Nehru, I Periyasamy, and K Ponmudy — apart from CM MK Stalin, hold State-level posts in the party. Most of the other ministers are either district secretaries or district in-charge of the party