Alagiri has been miffed with Stalin ever since Karunanidhi named him the working president and has been making statements against his younger brother.
Days after the death of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, a new power tussle is brewing between his two sons, MK Stalin and MK Alagiri. With the DMK executive meeting set to be held on Tuesday, elder son Alagiri reached Kalaignar’s grave and claimed support ‘his father’s true relatives.’
“My father’s true relatives are all on my side. All the supporters in Tamil Nadu are on my side and are encouraging me only. Only time will give the answers… that is all I am willing to say now,” Alagiri was quoted as saying by ANI.
Stalin has been heading the party as its working president ever since Karunanidhi’s illness. However, it was under his leadership that the DMK fought the May 2016 Assembly elections, which the party lost to the ruling AIADMK, its second straight defeat.
DMK Working President MK Stalin addressing supporters who had turned up to pay homage to Karunanidhi at Rajaji Hall. (Source: PTI photo)
Despite the loss, sources in the party, say that if Alagiri revolts, Stalin can easily deal with him as Alagiri’s hold on the party, even in his former stronghold of Madurai, has weakened considerably. “If he stands as an Independent candidate, he may get 5,000 votes at best, nothing more,” a senior DMK leader from Madurai had told the Indian Express.
Alagiri has been miffed with Stalin ever since Karunanidhi named him the working president and has been making statements against his younger brother.
Alagiri was once considered to hold a sway over the party and had won the 2009 Lok Sabha election and went on to become the Chemical and Fertilisers Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He was later expelled from DMK in 2014. There were wider speculations that post-Karunanidhi the two brothers were likely to reconcile and lead the party. However, Alagiri’s latest stand defies such speculations.
An executive meeting is set to be held tomorrow where Stalin is likely to be chosen as the new DMK chief. Meanwhile, Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi is likely to continue as the party’s face in Delhi.