THOOTHUKUDI: Not all parties in the Secular Progressive Alliance that were involved in a whirlwind campaign for Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in the Thoothukudi parliamentary constituency 10 days back seem to be keen to take up campaigning for the DMK candidate, M C Shanmugaiah, for the bypoll for Ottapidaram assembly segment which falls within Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency.
Yes, AICC secretary-in-charge, Sanjay Dutt, presided over a Congress workers meeting held here on Sunday in support of the DMK candidate for the Ottapidaram by-election, which saw participation of representatives of only three constituents - Congress, DMK and MDMK - in the Secular Progressive Alliance, among nine coalition partners.
While VCK's absence was conspicuous, a local Congress leader deeply regretted the absence of representatives from the two Left parties - the CPI and CPI(M)-.
More than the absence of the representatives of alliance parties, the absence of the Thoothukudi North DMK district secretary, Geetha Jeevan, was amply visible. The reason why she did not participate is said to be that Ottapidaram falls under South district of Thoothukudi. But Congress men here felt that she should have attended the meeting for courtesy sake at least, as the meeting venue was hardly five-km from her residence.
The situation is not so good in the rival quarters also, where Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) founder president Dr K Krishnasamy, expected to participate in the meeting in support of AIADMK candidate P Mohan, for Ottapidaram by-election the same day, did not turn up.
