A look at the composition of the eleven-member steering committee of the AIADMK announced on Wednesday reveals that the party leadership has given representation to different communities, hailing from different geographical regions of the State.
Vellala Gounders (Ministers P. Thangamani and S.P. Velumani) and Mukkolathors/Thevar (Ministers Dindigul C. Sreenivasan and R. Kamaraj) accounted for two each.Of them, the first two are from the western belt, while Mr. Sreenivasan and Mr. Kamaraj are from the southern and the central districts.
Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam is a Vanniyar while J.C.D. Prabhakar, a Christian by faith, can also be counted as a representative of the community, as he is called a Vanniyar Christian. Both are from the northern region.
P.H. Manoj Pandian, also a Christian, is perhaps the youngest of all the members in the steering committee and he fills the slot for the Nadar community too. He and Sholavandan legislator, K. Manickam, who is from the Devendra Kula Vellalar community, hail from the southern belt.
Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, former Minister P. Mohan and former Member of Parliament, R. Gopalakrishnan are representatives of fishermen, Pillai and Yadava communities respectively, the first two of whom are from the north and the last, the south.
The absence of some of well known faces of the party such as School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan, former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M. Thambi Durai, Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar and Cooperation Minister Sellur K. Raju in the committee did not go unnoticed.
To a query as to why many senior leaders were left out, R. Vaithilingam, deputy coordinator, replied that they would be accommodated in different committees that were going to be formed soon.