'We will not bear humiliation by DMK'

By Our Staff Reporter

THANJAVUR, APRIL 7. The MDMK leaders and cadres in Thanjavur district feel that Mr. Vaiko should not yield to mediation and patch up with DMK.

Welcoming the party decision to go it alone in the polls, a senior leader and office bearer said ``we will not bear the humiliation by the DMK''.

The Thanjavur Assembly segment was a bone of contention between the DMK and the MDMK as the latter wanted the seat for its chairman of the presidium, Mr. L. Ganesan, a native of a village near Orathanadu.

Asked whether it was because the DMK denied the Thanjavur seat to Mr. Ganesan that the leaders and cadres in the district wanted to go it alone, the senior leader said ``it is not in Thanjavur alone. More than Thanjavur, it is Sankarankoil that mattered. We strongly feel that the Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, does not like the growth of the MDMK''.

When the MDMK fielded its candidates in Thanjavur, Thiruvonam and Orathanadu Assembly segments in 1996, its candidates got 5,000, 7,000 and 13,000 votes respectively. Mr. Ganesan was the candidate in Orathanadu, which he represented many times.

The senior leader pointed out that though the MDMK candidate polled only 5,000 votes in Thanjavur Assembly segment in 1996, the party's candidate in the subsequent municipal election got 10,000 votes. On an average, the party had 10,000 votes in each of the ten Assembly segments in Thanjavur district. These votes really mattered in an Assembly election, the workers said. ``We have decided to go it alone and candidates would be chosen for each assembly segment depending upon the nominees fielded by the DMK.

The DMK leaders and cadres, though claim in public that their party would do well whether or not the MDMK is an ally, feel that losing MDMK, at a time when the alliance under AIADMK is strong, is a wrong strategy, and reconciled to the fact that they had to go it without MDMK, which is no doubt a strong force in Thanjavur district.

Candidates names on walls

Even before announcement of the list of candidates by DMK, names of a few candidates have started appearing on the walls in all places of the district.

One such candidate is the Local Administration Minister, Mr. Ko. Si. Mani, who represents the Kumbakonam in the Assembly. His name was written all over Kumbakonam alongwith the party's symbol ``Rising Sun''. Similarly, the names of Mr. S. Ramalingam, Thiruvidaimaruthur MLA, and Mr. S. Kalyanasundaram, Chairman of the Thanjavur District Co-operative Milk Union, were also found written everywhere in their respective areas.

While Mr. Mani and Mr. Ramalingam were sitting MLAs, what surprised the people here was Mr. Kalyanasundaram's name finding its place in Papanasam. He contested from the Papanasam segment in the past and had lost to Mr. G. K. Moopanar, who fought the election on the Congress ticket.

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Section  : Southern States
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