Discontented, several DMK men resign

Party president M Karunanidhi, in consultation with the party general secretary K Anbazhagan, immediately accepted the resignations, sending signals to partymen that the high command would not succumb to pressures and would not tolerate indiscipline in any form.

Speaking to reporters at Tiruchirappalli, Karunanidhi said action on Maniam would be thought of only after consulting party general secretary in Chennai.Karunanidhi said no one from among those who resigned had approached him with their demand till Friday last. "Those who had instigated the DMKleaders to resign had also not approached the party seeking a seat for Maniam," he said.

Karunanidhi admitted that it was Maniam who had approached him (Karunanidhi) for a ticket. "I told him that it was a by-election and the remaining tenure was only 18 months, and that his name would be considered when a full-term Rajya Sabha vacancy arose," Karunanidhi said.

A party loyalist right from the days of founder C N Annadurai, Maniam had been continuously denied party ticket, first to contest the Madurai Mayor post and then to the Lok Sabha polls.

When the party’s strongman in the district, late Maduraimuthu, switched over to AIADMK in 1977, it was Maniam who stood behind the party leadership in the district.

Earlier, the Madurai district unit had also protested over allocation of the Madurai Lok Sabha seat to Pon Muthuramalingam, who had rejoined the DMK after his short stint in the MDMK. Muthuramalingam was appointed as the organising secretary soon after his rejoining, which led to further protests byManiam’s loyalists. They described the appointment then as a prize for defection’.

The five-member committee, headed by former DMK MP M Ramanathan, which went into the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance’s candidates in 13 Lok Sabha seats in the State, had stated that groupism had led to the defeat of Muthuramalingam in Madurai.

Maniam is considered to be close to the party president’s son, M K Azhagiri, and his action of resigning the party post, at a time of the party’s organisational polls, has caused many an eye brow to raise.

Manian supports said he was promised a Rajya Sabha berth by the party high command, when he was denied the Lok Sabha seat but the party went back on its word.

DMK sources said the Madurai district unit of the party was not functioning as cohesive unit for some time now. One group was close to the speaker P T R Palanivelrajan and the other was led by Azhagiri.