In an attempt to revitalise the party in Tamil Nadu, a special convention of the state unit of All India Forward Block (AIFB), attended by party general secretary Debabrata Biswas, removed state president, actor-politician M Karthik from the post on Sunday.An ad hoc committee has been formed to take charge of party affairs till a new president is chosen in three months, said a statement quoting Biswas. Another panel would prepare a report on the state of affairs during that period.An actor who is largely a spent force at the box office, Karthik was charged with neglecting party affairs since he took charge as the president and running the party like his fan club. Meanwhile, Karthik organised a meeting of his supporters, giving a rise to speculations that he might float a new regional outfit with the support of Thevar community members, a traditional votebank of the AIFB. However, the actor denied the rumours, adding he was taking a “break from active politics”.Veteran party leader L Santhanam, who does not even hold primary membership after being expelled a couple of years ago by Karthik, is rumoured to be making a comeback and is said to be the frontrunner for the president’s post. Santhanam, known to be close to the AIADMK camp, was expelled because of alleged anti-party activities. Though Biswas preferred to reply in an ambiguous “all are welcome” reply to a question about this former general secretary’s comeback, party sources said the effort was on to bring veterans and old supporters back to the fold to strengthen the party.Biswas said Karthik failed to implement the central secretariat’s direction to form a state working committee five months ago. Appointed president in 2006, he made attempts at striking an alliance with both DMK and AIADMK, only to be rejected by both.
