Party to decide on succession, says Karunanidhi

It’s a magazine war in the first political family of Tamil Nadu. After his eldest son MK Alagiri challenged his political succession plan in an interview to Tamil magazine Junior Vikatan, chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi told the latest edition of another magazine Nakeeran that the issue of succession will be decided by the party. He said he as an “individual” has no say on such a crucial issue.

Asked if his failure to resolve differences between Stalin and Alagiri could provide ammunition to the opposition, Karunanidhi said, “There are no differences between them. They are mature enough to realise the fallout. Their differences, if any, would hurt me the most.” Karunanidhi also refrained from clearly revealing if he would retire from politics.

Asked if he would continue to be the CM, he said, “I will give you the reply when the occasion arises.”

Alagiri is strongly opposed to his younger sibling MK Stalin being named as the political heir and successor to Karunanidhi as the next DMK chief minister of the state. He was, in fact, “banished” to Madurai in the 1980s to rejuvenate the party in the southern regions of the state where the AIADMK, the Left and the BJP (in Kanyakumari) have some influence.