IT minister loses party's district secretary post

Madurai: Chief minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Thursday removed state minister for information technology M Manikandan from his party post of Ramanathapuram district secretary. He has been replaced by M A Muniasamy. A party release said Manikandan would, however, continue to hold the post of deputy secretary of the AIADMK's doctors' wing.
Sources say the minister's high-handedness with party colleagues and local rivalry could have contributed to his being removed from the influential party post. A party source said Manikandan's disrespectful attitude towards Ramanathapuram MP A Anwar Raja, a prominent leader in the district, at a function, could have been a factor.
"He ignored, the MP who was sitting in the front row, during a function in Ramanathapuram on Saturday,'' said an AIADMK leader, seeking anonymity. Many other functionaries in Ramanathapuram have also been replaced in Thursday's shuffle. Some of the new functionaries include Mudukulathor union secretary M Murugan, Kamudhi union secretary S P Kalimuthu and Kadaladi union MGR wing union secretary B Saravanan.