Karunanidhi issues gag order to silence rebel son

DMK president and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi sought to put an end to the media war launched by his eldest son MK Alagiri on the party succession plan.

In a recently released statement, Karunanidhi made it clear that only he and party secretary K Anbazhagan are authorised to speak to the media about the party’s affairs.

“All central and state ministers and party leaders can interact with the media with respect to their departments or official work. In case they have any issues with the party, it can be discussed within various forums of the DMK. Only Anbazhagan and I will speak about party matters to the media,” he said, adding, “Any indiscipline in the party will not be tolerated.”

“There have been efforts to weaken the party. The general [assembly] elections are less than a year away and some media are quoting DMK leaders out of context. We will overcome such efforts to destabilise the party,” he said.

Alagiri, in an interview with a magazine last month had said that he would contest the state leadership post if and when the situation arose.