VRIDDHACHALAM: Inner party conflicts, which are slowly intensifying, now pose a threat to Vriddhachalam’s status as a DMDK stronghold. The recent attacks on MLA Muthukumar’s house and the office of the party’s former town secretary Sankar, due to a dispute over the inner-party election results, proved a point in case.It was this Assembly constituency that first gave political recognition to party chief Vijayakant in the 2006 elections. During the 2011 polls, Muthukumar was elected as an MLA from here. A sizeable percentage of the voters in this constituency come from economically and socially weaker backgrounds. Backed by his on-screen image, Vijayakanth emerged successful from this constituency during the very first Assembly polls he faced after launching his party.With the victory of Muthukumar— with the AIADMK’s support— during the 2011 polls, the DMDK further strengthened its hold in the constituency. It was against this backdrop that the DMDK recently held inner-party elections to fill up various vacant party posts.The first signs of a rift surfaced when accusations were levelled against Muthukumar, with some claiming that he assigned posts to his supporters at the cost of senior leaders. In this shuffle, town secretary Shankar, town treasurer Anandha Gopal and a few other seniors were expelled from their posts.Irked over this, Shankar’s supporters allegedly hurled stones at Muthukumar’s house and burnt an effigy of the MLA last week. Based on a subsequent complaint from Muthukumar, the police registered case against 10 persons. This in turn triggered an alleged attack on Sankar’s office, during which a car was also damaged. Worried cadre now see this conflict as a threat to the DMDK’s future in Vriddhachalam.As a senior leader, who also holds a key party post, put it, “Sankar has been working for the party for over 20 years. On the other hand, MLA Muthukumar entered the party only three years ago. Using his influence, Muthukumar has been creating trouble for senior members. ”This view was shared by former town secretary Sankar. “With his landlord attitude, MLA Muthukumar wants everyone to obey him. No cadre should sit in front of him without his permission. Whoever did not live up to his expectations, he expelled from party posts. The MLA simply does not want anyone to be Vijayakant’s supporters. He wants all the cadre to be his followers.”According to party cadre, when Vijayakant contested from here in 2006, he stayed in Muthukumar’s house during the campaigns. He subsequently became close to the DMDK chief’s family and three years ago, joined the party. When contacted by Express, Muthukumar, however, felt that the rift was engineered by other persons. “It was Captain’s decision to remove Shankar from the post. It is a complete misunderstanding that I was the reason for this. I treat all the seniors, who have been working for the party since the fan club years, with due respect. Somebody is provoking Shankar to involve in activities against me,” the MLA said. Cuddalore district secretary and Panruti MLA Sivakozhunthu said, “We have been trying to work out a compromise. I held talks with supporters of both men and also brought the issue to Vijayakant’s notice.
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