The two-day zonal conference of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which began here on Saturday, is being seen as an exercise by the party to mobilise its cadre and infuse confidence in them for the ensuing battle of ballot i.e., the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The conference is being viewed by party insiders and political observers as a significant intervention in the wake of the defeat of the party in the recent R.K. Nagar bypoll.
Front line leaders of the party admitted that such a conclave was necessary for lifting the morale of the cadre to face the electoral challenges that lie ahead.
Choice of venue
The meet is expected to intensify the party’s call for statehood i.e., Dravida Nadu, a topic that working president M.K. Stalin touched on a few days earlier.
The choice of Erode, the birthplace of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, as the venue for the conference assumes significance, especially after BJP leader H. Raja triggered a controversy by calling for the razing of the statues of the social reformist who has always been dear to the hearts of the proponents of the Dravidian movement in the State.
The leaders expect Mr. Stalin, in his speech on Sunday night, to lash out at the BJP for “imposing itself on the State government” and at the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister for their “meek surrender to the Centre” and for “submissively mortgaging the autonomy of the State.”
They also expect the party leadership to exert pressure on the State government to ensure the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
What remains a million dollar question is whether the party would take serious note of the new entrants into politics from the tinsel world. While the cadre want the party to spell out a strategy to take on the newbies, the leaders feel otherwise. Taking note of their entry and discussing it would be tantamount to giving them undue importance,they feel..But party members have sounded a note of caution that the ‘enemy’ should not be underestimated. A three-time MLA pointed out that late MGR, who came from the tinsel world, kept the DMK away from power till he breathed his last. All eyes will be on the road map for the party that Mr. Stalin will spell out on Sunday.
