Trophy Panchayats

On November 13, the DMK will celebrate its 8216;success8217; in getting presidents elected for the first time to 4 reserved panchayats in the upper caste Thevar strongholds. Three of them were 8216;dummy8217; candidates propped up by the Thevars. Now, the state has doled out sops to ensure the Thevars attend the celebrations. Collector Udayachandran says the deals spell development. The Thevars8217; take: the govt has promised to de-reserve the panchayats for the next polls. Jaya Menon takes stock

Keeripatti

8226; Moona Balusamy 38, the rebel CPIM-backed candidate, who defied the Thevars, is quite sure that the gun-toting constable from Madurai police with him can do little to save his life. 8220;There are threats from the Thevars that they would attack me during night time when I am walking down the streets,8221; he says. Baluchamy was elected unopposed. The Thevars say the nominations of their candidates were deliberately rejected as the administration was sure that they would force a Dalit president to resign immediately after his election. Baluchamy says the district administration is working out a satisfactory development package to pacify the Thevars who have, in the past, used oracles to warn Dalits that they can never dream of being panchayat presidents.

Kottatchiyendal

8226; 8220;Only yesterday just three days before the Chennai celebrations, district officials informed us that Rs 3 crore would be spent on the three villages falling within the Panchayat,8221; said M Muniyandi, the newly nominated vice-president of the Kottatchiyendal Panchayat. The reason for the bounty: the president, Sonaimagan Karuppan, was backed by Muniyandi despite protests from other villagers. Karuppan, representing the Chokkliar caste the lowest sect among Dalits, has been working in Muniyandi8217;s fields for years. Muniyandi got away with his rebellion because he was the DMK8217;s village branch secretary. Pleased with the bargain struck with the state, the panchayat will send 45 people to the Chennai function, including Karuppan and his wife.

Pappapatti

8226; At 11.30 am, P Periakaruppan 40, a poor farm hand, yet to get over his election as panchayat president, is taking a quick nap. A few yards away, in a car shed, so is his gun-toting personal security guard. There8217;s no risk to Periyakaruppan8217;s life as he was the unanimous choice of the Piramalai Kallars, a Thevar sect. The reason he can sleep peacefully is this 8212; the Thevars have got what they wanted from the DMK government. From November 1, a bus started plying on the pitted roads to the village. The Village Administrative Officer, O Manikcam, has been shunted out merely five months after he took charge as he had backed T Baluchamy, a Dalit and a BCom graduate, against Periakaruppan who he openly declared would be a 8220;rubber stamp president8221;. Manickam received marching orders on Saturday after the Thevars threatened to boycott the DMK8217;s celebrations.

Naatamangalam

8226; P Ganesan 45 walks proudly down the slushy roads of the Dalit 8220;colony8221; to take charge, followed by his security guard. The guard shares his cramped hut. Ganesan works as a farmhand on the fields owned by the Thevars. As he lays down his demands for the village, he is rudely interrupted by a High Court lawyer, a Thevar native of Nattamangalam, threatening him not to speak without the permission of the village heads. The Thevars reluctantly agreed to the collector8217;s request 8220;not to compel the president to resign8221; on the condition that the vice-president8217;s post be given to a Thevar. That, besides a Rs 40-lakh cement road laying programme, a drama hall, a community hall, a marriage hall and a compound wall for the village water tank, loans for SHG members and farm loans.