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DMK parades Sivaganga leaders

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI June 20. The DMK today assembled its office-bearers from Sivaganga at the headquarters here, in a bid to prove that the party's structure was intact.

A few representatives, elected in the last internal poll, had quit following the killing of the former DMK Minister, T. Kiruttinan. But some of them sought to return to the party, after having rendered an unconditional apology to the leadership. A few others claimed that they were ``wrongly included'' by some "trouble makers" in a list of persons who wanted to quit the party. This happened when they were away on personal or party work.

``It is all wrong. There is no substance in the stories,'' the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, said when he was asked about the reported mass disenchantment in the southern units, particularly in Sivaganga. ``Seeing all this (the reports), the district office-bearers wanted to come and see us and tell that they were with the party, as always,'' he said.

Dismissing reports of DMK men quitting the party, Mr. Karunanidhi said a few incidents were blown out of all proportion. ``One or two would have left''. ``But they were not in any significant position in the district.''

For many of the lower level leaders, who had travelled from Sivaganga, it was a rare chance to be in close proximity to the entire leadership. They said they had conveyed to the leadership that they would always be ready to take up the party's cause anytime.

Later, Mr. Karunanidhi, the general secretary, K. Anbazhagan, and the deputy general secretary, M.K. Stalin, posed for a group photograph with the entire team from Sivaganga.

Meanwhile, as part of the larger programme of the party and to make sure that the fallout of the Kiruttinan murder was contained, a few district units — Tiruchi, Nagapattinam, Virudhunagar, Vellore and The Nilgiris — have passed resolutions condemning the arrest of Mr. Karunanidhi's son, M.K. Azhagiri, in connection with the killing. Others, including Madurai, are expected to follow suit soon. The party's elected representatives in Madurai district will meet on June 25. The party's principal secretary, Durai Murugan, will chair the meet.

The DMK leaders claim that passing of the resolutions in some districts itself was an indication that the cadres are now coming round to the view that intra-party feuds do not result in leaders getting killed. The meeting of Kiruttinan's relatives with the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has, in some ways, helped the party, the leaders explained.

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