Senior DMK Woman Leader Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan’s Decision To Retire From Politics Surprises Everybody

It’s not often that an active party member resigns when the party is in power. But that is what former Union Minister Subbalakshmi Jagadeesan has done. She was currently Deputy General Secretary of the DMK when she sent her resignation to party president MK Stalin declaring that she was retiring from politics. Insiders, however, say that she was unhappy about her prospects in the party after being denied a Rajya Sabha seat nomination that she was expecting considering her seniority. She was in the UPA-1 Cabinet (2004-09) as Minister State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Her husband Jagadeesan may not have helped her cause by putting out posts on the social media critical of the party, the contents of which were promptly relayed back to the party command. The party president did ask his senior minister Durai Murugan to find out what the problem was but, apparently, the lady said she was suffering health issues and that she wanted to retire from politics. Stalin had no option then but to accept the resignation. Heading a party that believes in transparency in dealing with its senior members and pays a lot of attention to its cadre-based strengths, Stalin had done his bit to keep the senior former minister in the fold. Her departure may not mean much as it is not the start of defections or desertions.