RIVALS FIX MEETINGS TO STRATEGISE FOR 2021 POLLS

RIVALS FIX MEETINGS TO STRATEGISE FOR 2021 POLLS

AIADMK to focus on ways to win majority seats on its own

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com  19.11.2020 

Chennai: On the eve of Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK has called for a high-level meeting of the recently appointed zonal office bearers, ministers anddistrictsecretarieson Fridaytostrategize for the 2021 election to win a majority of seats on its own. Party coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswamiwillcommence poll planning atthe ‘micro-level’ involving booth level committees.

The AIADMK wants to contest in a majority of theseatstoform a governmenton itsown even as “friendly” partners are banking on a good number of seats. “The meeting will provideclarity on the role of the zonal office bearers, most of them ministers and district secretaries. Each will be assigned the task of winning a sizable chunk of the vote bank to help us form the next government on our own,” said a senior minister.

The revamped IT wing has recently appointed20,000functionaries acrossthestate,while17.5 lakh office-bearers of the Ilaignar Ilampengal Pasarai constituted by former CM J Jayalalithaa to infuse young blood, were nominated to party election booths. The AIADMK is mulling appointing 20 women members in each booth.

TheAIADMKisirkedby the ‘power-sharing’ concept being floated by certain allies in the run up tothe polls andwould notconcedetodemands of prospective allies for more seats than they are allotted. “The Friday meeting at the party headquarters will not discuss power sharing or seat arrangement but will set the tone for winning a majority of seats on our own. The politically astuteleadership knowswhatisbestfor the party,” said a senior leader.

DMK high-level panel will discuss getting cadres fired up for polls

D.Govardan@timesgroup.com

Chennai: The DMK’s high level ‘strategy committee’, which is scheduled to meet on November 23, will discuss constructive steps to be taken by the party to galvanize party cadres for the ensuing assembly election in Tamil Nadu. The meeting will also deliberate on the revised electoral rolls released recently.

“Our party president (Stalin) always prefers to have a discussion and deliberation with party seniors on important issues. While the DMK’s executive and general council meetings are usually an elaborate exercise, he opted for a ‘strategiccommittee’ comprising party seniorsfor specific discussions,” DMK Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson T K S Elangovan told TOI. “While initially this committee had 20 members, it has now gone up to 30,” he added.

The EC has also released the revised electoral rolls. “We will deliberate on the rolls and to prepare party cadres for the elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DMK continued its exercise on revamping party districts into smaller units by creating new ones in Chennai and Thanjavur regions. “The revamping has been taken up for better administration and efficient handling of party affairs. With the latest revamp, the DMK has 79 party districts. New ones are created based on feedback from partymen and the leadership will decide whether there could be more districts in the offing,” DMK headquarters’ secretary and Rajya Sabha MP R S Bharathi said.

On Wednesday, Stalin concluded his interaction with zonal level office bearers, meeting those from Chennai region. He has interacted with office bearers from all 234 assembly segments in the state.