Chennai:
In a major shake-up, the DMK on June 22 suspended 33 senior functionaries, including its Thanjavur strongman and former Union Minister S S Palanimanickam, former minister and Dharmapuri leader V Mullaivendan and Rajya Sabha member K P Ramalingam.
Secretaries at the level of district, union and towns in Thanjavur, Dharmapuri, Namakkal, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul and Virudhunagar were targeted in the organisational drive to quell dissent and seek united work in the party. Supporters of Palanimanickam and former Union Minister M K Alagiri, party president M Karunanidhi's son, were specific targets, especially on charges of having worked against party candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
Palanimanickam has been charged with working for the defeat of former Union Minister T R Baalu in Thanjavur.
DMK general secretary K. Anbazhagan said action had been taken against the 33 functionaries based on the recommendation of a two-member committee comprising former MLA P S Thiruvengadam and former Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who looked into various complaints against partymen.
The suspended functionaries are in for more trouble. They have to respond to the show-cause notices in a week or face expulsion from the party.
The party has been rocked by differences between Karunanidhi's sons M K Stalin and Alagiri in several districts. The differences spilled over to the Lok Sabha elections with Alagiri supporters claiming they were denied tickets but Stalin could hand-pick candidates some of whom were accused of not being regular party workers.
The DMK had recently cut to size several powerful district secretaries, by dividing some districts, doubling the number of district units and giving opportunities to new faces. While the doubling of district secretaries was seen as cutting Stalin's strong hold in several districts, the new round of disciplinary action seeks to mollify him by taking action against Alagiri supporters.
