http://ibnlive.in.com/news/long-faces-in-parties-as-plum-post-goes-to-dalit/188922-60-118.html
Tamil Nadu | Posted on Sep 30, 2011 at 11:12am IST
Long faces in parties as plum post goes to Dalit
indianexpress Express News Service , The New Indian Express
VELLORE: The busy commercial hub, wears a dull look while it hosts the
first ever civic polls after the city was upgraded into a corporation,
as electioneering is still on a low key, despite the fact that the
battle lines are drawn.
While the parties have selected their respective candidates and have
completed the process of filing of nominations on Thursday, the
functionaries and cadre of the AIADMK and DMK are still unable to
conceal their disappointment over the way Vellore has gone in the way
of electing a dalit woman as its first mayor.
This has also put the dalit population (around 20 per cent) under a
lot of pressure to do the tight rope walking. While they have to
appease the not-so-enthusiastic party cadre from other castes by
maintaining good relationships with them, to uphold amity on one hand,
they have to work on strategies for a balanced electioneering to keep
their own caste base intact, on the other.
Since its inception as a first grade municipality, Vellore has been
electing civic leaders from the Mudaliyar community over the past four
decades. This community also enjoyed the support of Muslims here on
many occasions during elections.
In the case of Assembly and Parliament elections, there have been
mutual agreement between these communities to choose candidates from
among them in a cyclic fashion, both the communities are stumped this
time over Vellore going ahead with a dalit woman.
Sources reveal that Muslim leaders are also equally disturbed by the
quota move. With a voter population of around 25 per cent, a sizable
section of Muslims might vent their anger on the ruling AIADMK and the
oppostion DMK, for not opposing the move.� Things took a further twist
when AIADMK announced that Karthiyayini, a Phd scholar was the mayoral
candidate, putting the opposition in a tight spot.
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