The meeting of district secretaries and senior office-bearers of the AIADMK on Friday witnessed a “free and frank” discussion on reasons behind the party’s defeat in the Assembly election.
Among the reasons for the defeat cited by some functionaries were the presence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the electoral front headed by the AIADMK, the provision of 10.5% internal reservation for Vanniyars within the overall quota of the Most Backward Classes (MBCs) and De-notified Communities, the neglect of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and a lack of coordination in the deployment of resources.
A significant feature of the meeting, the first after the declaration of the results of the Assembly election, was the absence of reference to former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala and her “phone outreach programme” covering her supporters, said party sources.
The meeting, which lasted nearly three hours at the party headquarters in Chennai, was attended by party coordinator O. Panneerselvam, co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami and other senior leaders.
A. Anwhar Raajhaa, former Member of Parliament and secretary of the party’s minority wing, said the gains made through the 7.5% horizontal quota in admissions to undergraduate medical courses for students of government schools were negated by the decision on the 10.5% reservation, whose impact was felt more in the southern districts.
Referring to a number of measures taken by the previous AIADMK regime for the welfare of the people in the Cauvery delta, he said only four of the party’s candidates could win in the region, and they were all heavyweights from there. This was because of religious minorities not supporting the party.
P. Venugopal, secretary of the medical wing of the party and another former MP, felt the party had neglected the SC community, who had been traditional supporters of the AIADMK. Even though a considerable number of SC candidates got elected this time, the tally could have been higher had there been “proper treatment” of the community, he said.
Both Mr. Raajhaa and Dr. Venugopal did not contest in the Assembly election.
While Mr. Palaniswami talked about the achievements of his regime and said the party lost “narrowly”, Mr. Panneerselvam called upon the party members to remain united and face the forthcoming elections to local bodies.
The meeting, which adopted several resolutions, warned of holding an agitation if the DMK government did not fulfill electoral promises of giving ₹1,000 a month to women-headed families, effecting a reduction in prices of petrol and diesel by ₹5 per litre and ₹4 per litre and giving a subsidy of ₹100 per cooking gas cylinder. It also urged the Centre to take steps for containing the price rise of essentials and petroleum products. Two of the resolutions pertained to the Mekadatu row and the need for expeditious paddy procurement.
The party also decided to organise grand celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of its foundation. It also announced the expulsion of two former MLAs, P.M. Narasimhan and P. Ilavazhagan, for “anti-party activity”.
