CARTEL LEADING TN BJP, ALLEGES SENIOR LEADER
Thursday, 05 May 2016 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
With hardly two days to go for the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chennai to campaign for the NDA candidates in the Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, the BJP in the State is in total disarray if allegations by some of the senior and veteran leaders are to be believed. The parties with which the BJP has aligned, the Indian Jananayaga Katchi led by Patchamuthu owner of SRM Transport Services, SRM University and Puthiya Thalamurai TV network and India Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhakam led by T Devanathan has not gone well with most of the BJP leaders in the State other than those occupying official positions.
“Tamil Nadu BJP is under the control of the Kanyakumari cartel led by Union Minister of State Pon Radhakrishnan. The present leadership of Tamil Nadu BJP is taking the party to nowhere,” TS Sankarana-rayanan, a senior BJP leader from Madurai told The Pioneer. He said those leaders who have put in more than two decades of ‘selfless’ service for the party were overlooked during the selection of candidates for the Assembly election. “Only the henchmen of Radhakrishnan and his acolytes has been fielded as candidates,” charged Sankaranarayanan.
The allegation by Sankaranarayanan is not an isolated one. There are many leaders and activists in the party who has been pointing fingers at the party leadership, especially Pon Radhakrishnan, senior secretary Mohanarajulu and the national secretary P Muraleedhar Rao who has been deputed by the Central leadership to oversee the BJP affairs in Tamil Nadu.
Uma Anandan, a former women’s wing leader pointed out that selection of some of the candidates has not been made with an eye to win the election. She said party workers were flabbergasted by the BJP candidate who has been fielded at Mylapore assembly constituency, described as the cultural and intellectual capital of Chennai. “Instead of fielding someone who is familiar to the people of the constituency, Radhakrishnan has brought in Karu Nagarajan, a person about whom nobody in Mylapore has heard of. We understand that he is one of the trustees of Madras Port Trust, appointed at the instance of Radhakrishnan,” said Anandan.
Anandan also said that Patchamuthu, leader of the IJK, uses his TV channel Puthiya Talamurai to attack the Sangh Parivar. “The channel always portrays the BJP and Sang Parivar in poor light. Now we hear Patchamuthu who is also known as Parivendhar is sharing the stage with Prime Minister when he comes to Chennai for campaigning,” said Anandan.
T Balasubramania Adityan, BJP activist and president of Modi Parishad, which is working to restore the rivers in Tamil Nadu back to their old glory, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not waste his time campaigning in Tamil Nadu. “He is a great man who built the infrastructure for the BJP in Tamil Nadu. But the people in Tamil Nadu do not trust the present State leadership and the BJP would not touch the double digit figure in Tamil Nadu,” said Adityan, son of late ST Adityan, the Supreme Court lawyer who shocked the Congress by defeating the party candidate in the 1952 general election.
SV Sekhar, party spokesman is already on record pleading with the Prime Minister to cancel his trip to Tamil Nadu. Going by the statements made by a national level leader from Tamil Nadu, the BJP may find it difficult to field polling agents in all the booths from where its candidates are contesting. “If one has to go by what Muraleedhar Rao is claiming, the BJP should get more than 50,00,000 votes in this election. He has claimed that the BJP has 50 lakh members in the State. Lets wait till May 19 to know the truth,” said Adityan.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/cartel-leading-tn-bjp-alleges-senior-leader.htmlKARUNANIDHI FANS LAMENT ORATOR’S SLURRED SPEECH
Thursday, 05 May 2016 | Kumar Chellappan | CHENNAI
The public meeting at Madurai late Tuesday evening addressed by Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the 93-year-old president of the DMK turned out to be a pathetic exercise. Though the rally drew hundreds of party cadre and the fans of Karunanidhi, the DMK chief failed to either inspire or enthuse them as age has taken a heavy toll on him.
Karunanidhi has lost his unique oratorical skills. His booming voice has started to slur and memory failed him many times during the 20- minute speech necessitating the intervention of Shanmug-anathan, his Man Friday. It is time the nonagenarian leader retired from active politics and start playing with the kids of his grand— children Udayanidhi Stalin, Daya Alagiri and Kayalvizhi.
Karunanidhi is the oldest active politician in the 2016 Assembly election. Though K Anbazhagan (94), general secretary of the DMK, too wanted to have a last foray in this election, senior members of the party persuaded the “professor” to take a break from electoral politics leaving Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi prefers to be addressed by all) to create new records in the country’s election books.
The DMK patriarch, who took over the presidency of the party in 1969 following the death of CN Annadurai, is the longest serving president of any political outfits in India. Though confined to a wheel chair since the last eight years reportedly due to knee disorder, Kalaignar has no major health issues and is said to enjoy all good things in life. The number of septuagenarian and octogenarian women who turned up for the Madurai rally is an indication of the popularity enjoyed by this former script writer of Tamil films. A mention of Karunanidhi’s name was sufficient to make them blush and giggle.
“He has lost his memory and that exciting voice,” said Ramamoorthy, a scribe who never misses any public speeches by Kalaignar. People in Madurai where anxious to know whether the Grand Old Man of Tamil Nadu politics would go to TVS Nagar where his elder son Alagiri is living with his children and grand children. It is reported that though the great grand children waited for their Thatha (great grandfather) to come home for dinner, Karunanidhi accompanied by third wife Rajathi preferred to have his dinner from the star hotel he was staying.
What surprised and shocked all was Karunanidhi’s request made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the latter’s immediate intervention to ensure free and fair election in Tamil Nadu on May 16. Karunanidhi knows well that the Election Commission of India is in control of the administration during the process of election and it is for ECI to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls.
What is causing concern to ardent Karunanidhi fans is his State of health. Even a person like EMS Nampoothirippadu, known for his strict food habits and sedate life style could not go beyond 89 years of age. The CPI(M) veteran passed away immediately after the 1998 Lok Sabha election campaign after a bout of pneumonia.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/karunanidhi-fans-lament-orators-slurred-speech.html