Union chemicals minister MK Alagiri’s opposition to his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s succession plan has raised concerns about the survival of the Dravidian party.
Union chemicals minister MK Alagiri’s opposition to his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s succession plan has raised concerns about the survival of the Dravidian party.
There is no love lost between Alagiri and younger brother Stalin, despite their public show of bonhomie. Alagiri was “banished” to Madurai in the 1980s by Karunanidhi as his “strongman tactics” were beginning to hurt the party’s image. Much to the discomfiture of 86-year-old Karunanidhi, Alagiri has made it clear he will surely throw his hat in the ring if the party decides to choose a successor to Karunanidhi.
Political analysts and experts feel this could be a dark phase in the growth of the party. “Karunanidhi needs to take a democratic decision on the issue of succession. He has to take other party leaders into confidence,” Bernard D’Sami, history department reader at Loyola College, who has been closely following the Dravidian movement, told DNA.
“DMK is a cadre-based party and Karunanidhi should ask party leaders and the cadre who they want as leader. Over the years, DMK’s strength has been its cadre. If the DMK neglects them, it will be finished. Nearly 95% of the Dravidian support constitutes the working class — unorganised labourers, cobblers, rickshaw-pullers and cycle-repairers,” he said.
However, MLA S Ve Shekher said, “The same question [crisis] was talked about after Annadurai’s [founder of DMK] death. The DMK is a strong cadre-based party and will surely overcome such a crisis. But the die is cast in favour of Stalin, largely because he started out as a grassroots worker in the party and has risen up the ranks through four decades.”
Some people believe Stalin will get the crown. “During the assembly polls, educated youth will surely back Stalin as chief minister,” one source said. Others think DMDK leader Vijayakanth has an outside chance of becoming chief minister but only “If the Bangalore court verdict in the disproportionate assets case goes against Jayalalithaa.”. She could be barred from contesting polls in such a scenario, and she could try to work for an alliance victory and project Vijayakanth as chief minister,” another source said.
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