His father's birthday celebration combined with diamond jubilee of his legislative career provides an opportunity for Stalin to establish himself as the sole leader of the DMK and to make a mark in national politics.
The grand celebration of DMK President M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday on Saturday will not only bring anti-BJP parties together in one platform, but will also mark the emergence of party's de facto chief MK Stalin from his dad's shadow.
His father's birthday celebration combined with diamond jubilee of his legislative career provides an opportunity for Stalin to establish himself as the sole leader of the DMK and to make a mark in national politics.
A rally at the culmination of the birthday bash will be attended by a number of national leaders including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah. Stalin's is bringing together the anti-BJP parties on one platform to announce his arrival in national politics.
Stalin's father Karunanidhi was adept at playing roles in cobbling up alliances at the national level. Karunanidhi has played an active role in the launch of anti-Congress National Front in 1988 and also Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in 2004.
Stalin is also planning for an anti-BJP alliance for the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Prof Bernard D'Sami, a political analyst and professor of History at Loyola College, Chennai, feels that Saturday's meeting will be a kind of anointment of Stalin as Karunanidhi's successor in front of the national leaders. "Karunanidhi has groomed Stalin as his political heir. He has done that systematically for over three decades. It was not a sudden rise," he said.
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