Chennai, Aug 24:
A total of 13 district secretaries of the DMK, that included former Ministers and party heavyweights, would stand to lose their posts after the DMK fixed a cap on the age limit for the posts at 70, having decided to give a big push to the youth as part of structural overhaul of the party apparatus in the wake of the stunning reverse in the recent Assembly polls.
As part of the major revamp of the party apparatus, the DMK also decided to fix a strict tenure and set age limits for key party posts and infuse young blood to strengthen the organisational structure.
Apart from deciding to have one party district for every two Assembly constituencies, taking the total number of districts to 110, the high-level DMK Executive Committee also fixed the age limit at 70 and restricted the tenure of district secretaries for a maximum of three terms.
Among those who stand to lost their district secretary posts are E.V.Velu (75 years), R.Gandhi (80) , S.Muthusamy (77), Ginjee Mastan (71), S.Reghupathy (76), KKSSR.Ramachandran (77), Anitha S.Radhakrishnan (74) — all former Ministers — R.Avudaiappan (81), who is also former Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker, Sakkottai K.Anbazhagan (72), former MLA and Rajya Sabha member S.R.Sivalingam (75), Sundar (72), G.Thalapathi (73) and Cumbum N.Ramakrishnan (77).
Party sources said these 13 district secretaries would be accommodated in various other senior party posts.
In his address at the meeting, DMK President M.K.Stalin said the revamp might taste ‘bitter’ but it was necessary for the party’s health. Acknowledging that the performance of party functionaries was among the reasons for the poll loss, he said the party should first accept its mistakes openly. The organisation suffers because of the performance of an individual.
The changes would be “tough” and “bitter” for some, but are necessary to ensure that the party remains vibrant for the next 100 years, the former CM said. “The revamp may be “rough” and would taste “bitter” for some…but only a bitter taste is good for health”, he reasoned, adding the restructure was done based on the recommendations of the revamp committee headed by former Minister Thangam Thennarasu, constituted after the elections.
While reiterating the need to win the confidence of the youth and women, Stalin also said many posts would be offered to new faces, hinting infusion of young blood into the party in the fresh membership drive to be launched soon.