AIADMK to appoint grassroots functionaries

Chennai : The ruling AIADMK will appoint functionaries at the grassroots level that would include a sizeable number of women, a senior party leader said.

The party may also reconsider re-admitting its recently dismissed spokesperson and former parliamentarian K.C. Palanisamy.

"The selected persons will be those who have a good reputation at the grassroots level and who are loyal to the party," the leader told IANS, preferring anonymity.

According to him, there will be women officials as well.

The party in recent times has weeded out around 3,500 party functionaries said to be loyal to the sidelined leaders like V.K. Sasikala, jailed in a corruption case, and T.T.V. Dinakaran.

However the recent dismissal of spokesperson Palanisamy has not gone down well within the party.

"The decision seems to have been taken in a hurry. The party could have resorted to alternate actions," the leader added.

AIADMK's Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneeerselvam and Joint Coordinator and Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on March 16 dismissed Palanisamy from the party's primary membership.

He had taken a slightly different stand from that of the party leadership over the no-trust vote introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Telugu Desam Party against the BJP-led Central government.

On March 16 Palanisamy told IANS: "If the Centre refuses to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) as the Supreme Court ordered, the AIADMK may support the no-trust motion."

However, the decision to dismiss Palanisamy dented the ruling party's image on its stand on the Cauvery water issue as the entire opposition has been demanding the AIADMK party with 37 members in the Lok Sabha to announce that it would vote against the Central government.

It was Palanisamy who first opposed the election of Sasikala as the party's General Secretary and petitioned the Election Commission.

Well articulate and a popular face in the television debates on behalf of the AIADMK, Palanisamy's dismissal raised eyebrows within and outside the party.

Several senior partymen expressed their concern to the top party leadership. Given this situation, the party leadership may reconsider its decision against Palanisamy, it is learnt.