Stalin plans to pick his team after thorough background check

CHENNAI: The newspaper advertisement campaign run by the ruling AIADMK a couple of days ahead of the just concluded Assembly polls appears to have had its impact on the opposition camp.

While one must wait till May 2 to assess the influence of the advertisements on the voters, it has certainly played a part on the decision making process of DMK president MK Stalin who has been spending time with his family in Kodaikanal since last week.

The DMK chief was understood to be giving serious thought to the antecedents of his party candidates while preparing a tentative list of ministers in the event of his forming government. If DMK sources in the know are to be believed, Stalin could be scrutinizing the nature of cases against the seniors who had featured in the rival AIADMK’s advertisement issued on the final day of the poll campaign.

Though most of the ministers in the 2006-11 DMK tenure are eyeing a ministerial berth, their leader Stalin was learnt to be not keen on accommodating all. A DMK senior admitted to his leader being choosy this time and said the leader would not summarily reject all seniors, but he wants to accommodate new faces in the cabinet.

A few second rung leaders with less influence in their region but more liabilities could be denied the opportunity. At the same time, resourceful seniors like Nehru, Velu, Ponmudi or I Periasamy would get ministerial berths, the DMK senior said, adding that newcomers, especially a couple of them from youth wing could be given ministerial rewards. Another speculation was the prediction of its poll strategist I-PAC. Going by information trickling out of Anna Arivalayam, the poll strategist might have forecast as high as 205 seats to the DMK leadership, in the recent elections.