PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday claimed that the AIADMK had managed to stay in power only because it was in an alliance with the PMK. It was his party’s sustained work during last year’s byelections to 21 Assembly constituencies that had strengthened the AIADMK’s hold on power, he claimed.
Speaking at the special general council meeting of the PMK at Omandur near Tindivanam, he said the party had changed its strategy and had aligned with the AIADMK during the 2019 Lok Sabha election by virtue of political necessity.
“The PMK worked hard in the 2016 elections. Though we were appreciated by the people, they did not give us seats. The PMK aligned with the AIADMK and extended its support to the ruling party in the [2019] elections due to political necessity. We stood by the AIADMK in the byelections to 21 Assembly constituencies, and this enabled them to remain in power,” he claimed.
He accused the AIADMK of not having recognised the full potential of the PMK while allotting the wards for the elections to rural local bodies. He appealed to the ruling party to listen to the suggestions of the PMK instead of offering seats as charity.
Contending that the year 2020 will pose several challenges to his party, he urged the rank and file to counter the DMK’s criticism and false propaganda against the PMK. He expressed his unhappiness with the attitude of some district secretaries and deputy general secretaries, who sought to promote the interest of kith and kin during the recently-concluded rural local body elections. A few in the party had contested the elections for panchayat wards in spite of clear directions from the high command not to do so. The party’s performance was more important than personal aggrandisement, he said.
Vote bank target
Speaking at the meeting, PMK founder S. Ramadoss appealed to the district secretaries and deputy general secretaries of the party to dedicate themselves to its growth and ensure that it achieved a vote bank target of 80 lakh voters in 80 Assembly constituencies for the next Assembly election.
Hitting out at the district secretaries and deputy general secretaries for remaining ‘lethargic’ and ‘laid-back’ instead of getting the workers geared up, he said the workers should complete the task within six months, and the high command would review their work in July.
The posts of district secretaries and deputy general secretaries were not ornamental positions, he said.
