Chennai: Chief minister M K Stalin asked his party district secretaries on Monday to focus on weaker booths, avoid internal conflicts during campaigning and give equal importance to constituencies contested by DMK and allies.Election work would be the basis for cabinet berths in the next term and not seniority, Stalin said in his first meeting with district secretaries after the enforcement of model code of conduct. Only those district secretaries who demonstrate overall performance in all the booths and constituencies in their jurisdiction will be rewarded, he said. MPs and ministers also participated in the meeting. “We were given the list of booths where we were weak. We have been asked to concentrate more in thise booths,” said a district secretary. He said Stalin instructed them to visit those booths along with the MLAs to strengthen the party. The weak booths were identified based on internal surveys and reports of lukewarm response during DMK events held there.Speaking at the meeting, Stalin instructed the district secretaries to work uniformly in all constituencies. “You (district secretaries) should not differentiate between the constituencies where our candidates contest and those where our allies contest. We must ensure that we get more than 200 seats in the upcoming election,” Stalin said.“Ensure that you win all the constituencies in which you are in-charge. Only then will you be made a minister in the next govt we form,” Stalin said.He instructed the district secretaries to avoid intra-party conflicts. “Strict action will be taken against those who are found to indulge in conflicts within the party. Action will be taken on them irrespective of their positions,” Stalin said.
