DMK goes all out to strengthen base in western T.N.

The ruling DMK is pulling out all the stops to strengthen its organisation in the western region of Tamil Nadu, where the AIADMK continues to call the shots and the BJP is trying to expand its reach.

The region contributed immensely to the AIADMK’s victory in 2011 and 2016; even in 2021, when the election was held without AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, it defied the DMK’s efforts to break through. Of the 68 seats in the Kongu region, the DMK was able to win just 24, after a sweeping victory in the Lok Sabha election two years ago. “The trend will change in the coming elections,” said Thoppu N.D. Venkatachalam, former AIADMK Minister who recently joined the DMK.

Former AIADMK leader and Minister S. Muthusamy, of Erode, who joined the DMK a decade ago, is now the Housing Minister. The DMK also took in R. Mahendran, former vice-president of the MNM, a well-known face in the region. P. Palaniappan, a key leader of the AMMK and former AIADMK Minister, has also been inducted into the party to boost its prospects in Dharmapuri.

Mr. Venkatachalam attributed the AIADMK’s victory to its strong presence in grass-root organisations such as local bodies, co-operatives and weavers’ societies. “Unlike the MLAs and the MPs, the elected representatives of the local bodies and the co-operative societies maintain a good rapport with the voters. When they enter the campaign, they are able to sway the votes in favour of the AIADMK,” he felt.

DMK sources said the party lost its base after leaders such as M. Kannappan, A. Ganesamoorthy and Tiruppur Duraisamy, having ideological commitment and good standing in the local community, joined the MDMK launched by Vaiko. “It paved the way for the emergence of leaders known for loyalty and not any organisational and intellectual calibre,” the sources said.

Mr. Venkatachalam agreed that the Kongu region voted overwhelmingly for the AIADMK because of its natural affinity with Jayalalithaa and the party having projected Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a leader from the region, as the chief ministerial candidate. Though a socially and economically powerful community, the Gounders had to wait for decades to get the post for Mr. Palaniswami, after K. Subbarayan, the former premier of Madras Presidency.

The appointment of former IPS officer Annamalai as the BJP president in the State is seen as a counter to the DMK’s efforts to woo the region. “Since the days of the Chola Empire, the Kongu region was highly ‘Sanskritised’. Though the trend changed and the region produced pioneers of the Dravidian movement, their achievement and the DMK government’s contributions to the region were not properly propagated,” said Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, a party leader who lost to former Minister S.P. Velumani in Thondamuthur.

He said the backward caste status granted to Gounders by the Karunanidhi government and the irrigation projects it initiated and other factors contributed to the development of the region in education, agriculture and industry.

“There is a cluster industry every 20 km. But there is a disconnect between the party and the people. We need a full-time leader in Coimbatore who will act as a bridge between people and the government and offer help when it comes to government schemes,” he said.