KMK heading towards a split?

ERODE: The latest graffiti put out by the cadre of the Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) has set tongues wagging over possible signs of cracks within the party. For, the men are going to town with only party general secretary E R Eswaran’s visit to freedom fighter Deeran’s memorial at Odanilai in Arachalur on August 3. President Best Ramasamy’s name has been conveniently left out from the wall writings.At the KMK’s general council meeting held in Chennai before the Assembly election, many functionaries had suggested a truck with the AIADMK, pointing out that the party had staged many agitations against the then DMK rule on issues of cane price hike, pollution from textile units and the right to tap toddy.The party was floated during the last Lok Sabha elections. Contesting from 11 seats in the Kongu region, it had secured over six lakh votes independently, outgunning several Congress candidates—including E V K S Elangovan from Erode— due to the splitting of votes.Prior to this, its leaders worked under the umbrella of the Kongu Vellala Goundargal Peravai. However, after the party was floated, top leaders of the peravai, like Mani Goundar and Auditor Balasubramaniam, quit to work on their own outfit. This cleared the way for Best Ramasamy and Eswaran, who were less known in political circles then. They quickly climbed up the political ladder after championing the demand for a separate Kongu Nadu. They complained that the Kongu region, which gave over 40 per cent of revenue, was neglected in all aspects. Their conferences saw huge turnouts, making hacks believe that it was a force to reckon with in the Kongu region.The KMK’s alliance with the DMK to contest from seven seats in the recent Assembly election, however, sealed its fate. Not only did it face a complete rout, its contest from Gobi and Perundurai helped the AIADMK win by the highest margin of over 40,000 votes.Although the party clarified that it had decided to go with the DMK only because it was still smarting from the AIADMK’s insult, those from the Kongu Vellala Goundar community, traditional supporters of the AIADMK, voted for Jayalalithaa.Now, the graffiti, which has asks cadre “to align together under the leadership of E R Eswaran”, has brought out the differences within the party in the open.The KMK State executive would meet at Rasipuram on June 26 to decide it future political course of action, sources have said. The meeting may take a call on whether to back the AIADMK or work independently.