TN Assembly polls: DMK's second-rung leaders under siege as cadres lobby for party tickets

CHENNAI: DMK’s second-rung leaders -- and their aides -- are under siege as party cadres are drowning them in calls and visits in an attempt to grab a party ticket to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, is buzzing with cadres grouping together plotting strategies to convince the second-rung leaders. The personal assistant of one state functionary complained that he was struggling to cope with the calls from cadres over the past 10 days while the aide of a second-rung leader revealed that his boss has stopped taking phone calls in the past week. “He is using a new number just to avoid the torture from the cadres leaving me to handle their calls,” the harried assistant admitted.

Party sources revealed that 8,000 applications have been received so far seeking tickets to contest in the polls. Of them, over 1,000 have been filed on behalf of senior leaders such as party chief MK Stalin while another 2,000 are from union-level functionaries seeking to register their seniority with the leadership. This leaves 5,000 applications from cadres hoping for a ticket to contest in any of the 234 constituencies in the state.

Given the competition, the cadres are outdoing one another to capture the attention of second-rung leaders, such as district secretaries, district in-charges, state secretaries of party wings and state-level functionaries, who may be able to influence the party leadership’s decisions.

“The whole party believes that we will form the next government so now everyone wants a ticket assuming victory is guaranteed,” explained one district-level functionary from a delta district who has also sought a ticket.

According to him, the party has already conducted a field survey among cadres and the public and prepared a list of potential candidates based on the feedback. Besides, political consultant I-PAC has also conducted a survey and prepared a list. “In both lists, they have identified at least five persons for every constituency based on aspects such as personal influence, caste, money power, past electoral experience and party seniority,” the functionary explained.

Now, every person shortlisted is vying for a ticket with most deciding to camp in Chennai and lobby support from influential second-rung leaders. Some of the leaders have even assured them of tickets in the long-delayed urban local body polls if not in the assembly election, the functionary added.