Trouble in AIADMK ranks

The recently-concluded elections for party posts,including district secretaries and heads of various wings,have led to...

The recently-concluded elections for party posts,including district secretaries and heads of various wings,have led to open infighting in the AIADMK,something that was not heard of in the party till recently. Weeks ago,Rajya Sabha member Maitreyan’s car was burnt,though the police have not yet confirmed if it was due to party factionalism. However,the case of the assault on OS Manian,the party MP who defeated Congress heavyweight Mani Shankar Aiyer,has been confirmed as a fall out of intra-party rivalry. Over the last few weeks disappointed cadres from the districts marched to Jayalalithaa’s residence in Chennai to protest over the alleged selection of functionaries by a powerful group within the party.

Kabbadi politics

The IPL organisers would do well to learn a trick or two from MLA ‘Anita’ R Radhakrishnan about using sports as a ‘peacemaker’. A two-time MLA from Tiruchendur Assembly constituency and a former minister in the Jayalalithaa cabinet,Radhakrishnan recently jumped ship to join the DMK and was re-elected in the subsequent bypoll on a DMK ticket. The name and schedule of the annual kabaddi tournament,which he has been organising for about a decade now,also went in for a change. Hitherto organised on February 24 to celebrate AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa’s birthday,it is now the M K Alagiri Cup and was launched on January 30,the birthday of union minister and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s elder son.

The CM effect

The Chennai police were recently kept on their toes for a few hours over a missing complaint recently. K Shanmuganathan,Karunannidhi’s personal secretary,who has been a trusted Karunanidhi hand for many years now,received information last Wednesday that his grandson Surya,8,has gone missing from their house at around five in the evening. On learning of the incident,Karunanidhi went straight to Shanmuganathan’s house and announced that he would be there till the boy was brought back home. This also brought the top brass of the city police to the house including police commissioner T Rajendran. With the whole machinery working in tandem,it only took a couple of hours to trace the child who was allegedly kidnapped.

The smoking gun

After being away from the limelight,former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has fallen back on his first love,pet hate and favourite target to return to the podium: health,smoking and films. Coming out of the months-long slumber since the unfavourable results in the last general elections,the ex-health minister has written to actor Ajit,director Saran and actor-producer Prabhu,urging them not to portray smoking scenes in their latest work Asal ,which has a burning cigar as one of the signature props for the hero’s character. The statutory warning should be shown in the scenes where it can’t be avoided,said Anbumani in the letter,adding that those below 18 should not be allowed to watch the movie.