Internal feud brews in AIADMK

TIRUPUR: Internal feud within the AIADMK was exposed at Perundurai in Erode , where several hundred party cadres and functionaries boycotted the opening ceremony of the party’s election office on Sunday. They later met the party candidate for the Tirupur parliamentary constituency, M S M Anandan, at a different place.

The ruling party had earlier announced its plans to open election offices in all the six assembly constituencies that fall under the Tirupur Lok Sabha constituency to facilitate the poll campaign process.

On Sunday, school education minister KA Sengottaiyan opened the election office at Panikkampalayam junction in Perundurai, which falls under the Tirupur parliamentary constituency, and held a meeting with alliance partners.

The meeting was, however, conspicuous by the absence of several hundred AIADMK cadres, who waited at the nearby government hospital to meet both the party candidate and the minister. However, police asked them to vacate the place for fear of unrest which they did. Later, Sengottaiyan and Anandan met them separately.

“The election office is opened in a place owned by Perundurai MLA N D Venkatachalam. We were not invited for the function. Even if we were asked to attend, we wouldn’t have obliged. So, we waited at a different place. Venkatachalam, however, diverted the convoy of the minister and Anandan to avoid us,” a senior party functionary from Erode told TOI.

He said Venkatachalam had no respect for the elders in the party and termed him a dictator. “He always looks down on the district party functionaries and it is not going down well with us.”

The rift had come in the open three months ago when a group of party functionaries, who were waiting at Vijayamangalam toll gate on Kochi-Salem highway to greet chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, were booked for allegedly threatening C Shankar, a prime accused in Emu poultry scam. “Shankar is an aide of MLA Venkatachalam. The case was registered due to external pressure,” said another party functionary.

Sources close to MLA Venkatachalam, however, said the functionaries were raising false allegations as they could not digest the importance given to the MLA. “We are confident that the party will win by good margin, despite the internal feud.”