The AIADMK’s comprehensive defeat in the urban local bodies elections may trigger a demand for changes in the way the party is being run and for the accommodation of side-lined former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala.
The setback was more severe for the party than otherwise as Theni and Salem, the home districts of coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami respectively, went the DMK way.
Other western districts, a traditional stronghold of the party, have deserted the AIADMK. As per the party position at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the AIADMK could win only seven out of 60 wards in the Salem corporation and three out of 100 in Coimbatore, which is the home district of former Local Administration Minister S.P. Velumani.
In the light of such results, party veterans feel that the party is likely to witness yet another round of internal churning. The demand for taking back Ms. Sasikala may come not just because of the direction that she is expected to provide but also because of the disenchantment with the present dispensation.
Under the present system of “dual leadership”, there is a perception that select district secretaries have become more powerful than others. Even the nomination was said to have been done on the basis of loyalty of candidates to such powerful functionaries. If this trend has to be arrested, the slogan of ‘bring back Ms. Sasikala’ will grow louder, the veterans say.
Conceding that the immediate future is going to be more challenging for the party than the past, the leaders say Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami would have to deploy care and tact hereafter in mobilising the cadre and in striking alliance with other parties.
The phase of lean patch that began at the time of the 2019 Lok Sabha election is continuing. This can be broken only if they realise that all loose ends have to be tied up. They should also explore the possibility of forming a broad-based alliance, with or without the BJP, the veterans suggest, adding that the national party’s absence has caused a dent in the vote base of the Dravidian major.
