It is not only actor Rajinikanth who is keeping the people of Tamil Nadu guessing with regard to his political plans. Former DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi’s elder son MK Alagiri has also joined the suspense bandwagon, with his supporters wondering about his return to politics after several years.
Alagiri, who was Union minister in the second UPA government, on Thursday met his mother Dayalu Ammal who is under treatment at the family residence at Gopalapuram.
Later speaking to reporters, Alagiri said he will consult his supporters on January 3 and decide about launching a new party. “If my supporters want me to launch a new party, I will do that but will not support DMK. Neither have I been invited by DMK to rejoin the party,” he said.
Asked about meeting actor Rajinikanth, Alagiri said he came to know from the media that the actor was returning from the shooting of ‘Annathee’. “Once he is back from Hyderabad, I will meet him,” said Alagiri.
Earlier, reports said Alagiri — whose faceoff with his younger brother MK Stalin led to his expulsion from the party his father led for well over a half a century — was being aggressively wooed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is looking to make inroads into Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Alagiri, before his expulsion from the DMK, was the party’s southern strongman. During his heyday, his clout was such that his will on all matters wielded a lot of influence on the party’s decisions, from electoral alliances to candidates to campaign planning. According to several sources within the party, Alagiri’s disillusionment was chiefly over the gradual rise of his younger brother and the favour he appeared to enjoy with his father, former DMK president M Karunanidhi.
Alagiri was expelled from the party even when Karunanidhi was holding all the power in the DMK. In March 2014, Alagiri, who was then the party’s South Organizational Secretary, was sacked. He had accused the party high command of acting unilaterally. Karunandhi had addressed the press after a showdown at his residence with Alagiri, clearly establishing Alagiri has no place in the party.
After Karunanidhi’s death Alagiri had tried to stoke tensions within the DMK but the party stood by MK Stalin, its leader designate then.
(with inputs from Poornima Murali)
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment