MADURAI: Muruganantham, the dalit president of Pappapatti, was still in a daze when TOI met him, he couldn’t believe that the chief minister would visit his village. A DMK member, he is serving his second consecutive term as president of the village.
Notorious for caste clashes, dalit presidents of Pappapatti used to be handpicked by the dominant piramalai kallars when it became a reserved constituency too. Periyakaruppan was one such choice. According to Muruganantham, there is a “50% change” in the attitude of the villagers.
“When non-dalits oppose something that we plan to do, I approach it as leader of the village and not as one from the dalit community. I am able to convince them most of the time,’’ he said. Terming the CM’s visit historical, he said, “His visit would definitely make them see me in another light and make it easier to bring many facilities to the village.” He said the CM said all four cemetries in the village would be renovated, which was something big.
