Stalin to reinvent DMK, young leaders get posts

CHENNAI: In an attempt to take greater control of the organisational set up as well as shed the image that DMK is a party of the elderly, party treasurer M K Stalin has prevailed upon his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi to agree for a complete rejig of the machinery. In the process, about half of the 65 district secretaries' posts will be given to younger leaders, said party sources.
The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Karunanidhi, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan, Stalin and a few other senior leaders. At the end of the three-hour meeting on Tuesday, it became evident that Stalin would have his say in packing the decision making bodies of the party with his loyalists. While elections would be held for 35 district secretary posts, the balance 30 would be selected unopposed, said sources.
To preempt revolt and skirmishes within the party, Karunanidhi, in a statement issued in the evening, invoked party founder C N Annadurai's name and said
everybody should stand united. The drubbing in the last elections had raised charges that some regional satraps were autocratic and were running the party as their personal fiefdom. Including former ministers and district secretaries, 18 senior leaders were called for personal interaction. Karunanidhi said, the party leadership had taken written assurance from them that they would not stake claim for any party post or seats in elections either for themselves or for their relatives. Elections for district secretary posts would start on December 19, he said.
"Most of the newly-elected union secretaries are loyalists of Stalin. Barring a few, district secretaries also would be his people," said a former state minister.
Stalin summoned all the leaders who have filed nominations for the district secretary posts and tried for an amicable settlement among them.
Stalin, apparently, is opposed to wards of senior leaders occupying any party post. The efforts taken to clip wings of senior leaders may affect party's chances in the elections, said a former MP. "Those who have been sidelined would not work for other candidates," he point out. Sources said headquarters secretary Arcot N Veerasamy was likely to be dropped and K N Nehru was expected to replace him. Similarly, former ministers E V Velu, I Periyasamy and A Raja would be elevated in the party hierarchy, they said.