Action against partymen who erred in poll: M K Stalin

Chennai: DMK’s high-level strategy committee that met on Friday decided to take “stern action” against party functionaries who adopted “callous attitude” during the campaign in the high-stakes by-election to RK Nagar in which the party’s nominee forfeited his deposit.

The party has already constituted a three-member committee to investigate the work and actions of party functionaries in the run up to the elections. The three-member committee consisting of R. Sakkarapani, R. Girirajan and V. Kannadasan  — legal wining secretary and joint secretary– will submit its report on Sunday.

 “The meeting resolved to act against all party functionaries – be it seniors or juniors – who mismanaged the campaign that led to the defeat. Action will be taken against those who erred,” DMK working president M. K. Stalin told reporters after the meeting.  

The committee was constituted after DMK suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of independent candidate TTV Dhinakaran by securing just 24,000 votes – 32,000 votes less than what the party’s candidate Shimla Muthuchozhan managed against J. Jayalalithaa in 2016 assembly elections. 

Sources said the action against party functionaries would be taken after the committee submits its report. The meeting also hailed the acquittal of its leaders – A Raja and Kanimozhi — in the 2G spectrum allocation case, saying “imaginary” losses in spectrum allocation have “vanished into thin air” like a ‘phantom’ and the party has emerged as a giant “refined in gold.”

“The Phantom called 2G—an imaginary account that vanished into thin air,” a resolution adopted at the meeting said and lauded Raja and Kanimozhi for facing the case and securing the acquittal from a CBI court in Delhi last week. 

“The hegemonic forces concealed Raja’s feat of taking mobile telecom to poorer sections at lower costs and created an imaginary account of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss and blew it up and filed a case,” the resolution further said.