Cong sulks as DMK fills Port with its men

Last month, six DMK men received a note from the Chennai Port Trust, appointment orders posting them as trustees to the board. Though they h...

Last month, six DMK men received a note from the Chennai Port Trust, appointment orders posting them as trustees to the board. Though they had little to do with the Chennai Port Trust, as key DMK functionaries in Chennai and Kancheepuram, they are known to be close to Union Shipping Minister and DMK leader T.R. Baalu. In fact, most of them were involved in campaigning for Baalu in his South Chennai constituency in LS elections.

The former Saidapet MLA, Saidai Kittu, who played a key part in Baalu’s campaign, was one of the beneficiaries. Also party MLA J. Anbazhagan’s brother Karunanidhi, North Chennai district secretary L. Balaraman, Kancheepuram district secretary T.M. Anbarasan and Triplicane unit secretary A.R.P.M. Kamaraj were made trustees.

When contacted, Balaraman admitted that he ‘‘had nothing to do with the Port Trust in the past, but it is a routine political posting’’. The six new nominees have already attended two board meetings. ‘‘We will only be given Rs 200 for a board meeting,’’ says Karunanidhi, a new trustee. But official sources say the trustees ‘‘have a say’’ in labour management and allocation of contracts.

Baalu’s rewards allegedly have not stopped with postings in Chennai Port Trust. His partymen have been accommodated in Vishakapatnam and Mumbai Port Trusts too. The chairman of Tambaram Municipalty, which falls within Baalu’s constituency, has been nominated to the Mumbai Port Trust. Says the chairman ‘Tambaram’ Raja, ‘‘I will hold the post till March 2006.’’ For the Vishakapatnam Port Trust, the DMK’s nominee is a former councillor, M.K. Mohan.

Though nominating party loyalists to port trusts has become a ‘‘political custom’’ with every government, the move has upset the local Congressmen. Says a Tamil Nadu Congress general secretary, ‘‘The DMK is riding a rough shod over us, not giving us any posts.’’

Also, with DMK minister K. Venkatapathy holding the law portfolio, as many as 73 DMK sympathisers have been appointed as Central Government additional standing counsel in the Madras High Court.

Additional counsel have been appointed far in excess of the need. For instance, in the Central Administrative Tribunal, normally only five counsel are appointed, but now 14 have been posted, says Congress leader B.S. Gnanadesikan. ‘‘At this rate, there will be two lawyers for each case.’’

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With the state Congress sulking, the DMK has offered the crumbs to its junior partner. ‘‘They have asked us to prepare a list of Congress lawyers for appointment as standing counsel,’’ says Gnanadesikan.