Less than a week after the demise of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, it seems a serious fratricidal war is on the cards in the grand old Dravidian party. Karunanidhi’s elder son and DMK’s erstwhile south zone secretary MK Alagiri, dropped a bombshell saying Karunanidhi’s followers are with him.
Five days after the death of Karunanidhi, when the party and the family are still mourning the nonagenarian’s death, Alagiri challenged the DMK working President and his younger brother MK Stalin.
Replying to various questions from the media, Alagiri, after paying tribute at his father’s beachside grave, conveyed that all is not well in the DMK family. "All the real DMK supporters who were behind Kalaignar are with me. Only time will give a befitting reply. I am pained at what’s happening, I came here to express my grudge to my father. You will know what is my grudge is, in the coming days,” he said.
When asked about his participation in the DMK executive committee, which is all set to meet on Tuesday (August 14), Alagiri said, “I am not a member of the party. Don’t ask me about the executive committee.”. However, sources say that a fratricidal tussle has already begun in the family among the siblings. Alagiri’s statement has led to a fresh set of outburst, and as per the statement, Stalin, seems to have decided to rebut Alagiri.
Minutes after paying tribute at his father’s grave, when Alagiri arrived at Karunanidhi’s Gopalapuram residence, Stalin, who was at the doorstep, did not see him eye to eye. Flanked by party seniors, Stalin moved away from near the door, as Alagiri entered the house. However, a few hours after Alagiri expressed himself, party senior and Chepauk MLA J Anbazhagan, dismissed Alagiri’s statement saying, “he is not a member of our party. Why should we reply to a statement from someone who is not even a member of our party?” he asked. Anbazhagan is known to be Stalin's confidante among party seniors.
However, Alagiri who was once the south zone organising secretary of the party is not that powerful in the party, after he was expelled from DMK in 2014. He was expelled from the party by Karunanidhi himself on disciplinary grounds. Alagiri’s clout even in his former area of command, Madurai, has reduced considerably over the years.
If at all Alagiri stages open warfare like OPaneerselvam in AIADMK, it will be a lop show, as the flock is behind Stalin as of now. The bigger challenge for Stalin as of now is to deliver and ride the party to victory in polls at Thirupparankundram and Thiruvarur (Karunanidhi's constituency) which will be due to soon.
In RK Nagar by-polls the DMK finished third only after AIADMK’s sidelined leader TTV Dhinakaran and AIADMK. Two factions of the AIADMK are ready to wrest power in the two by-elections. Though Alagiri is not a strong force in the party, he will be like a thorn on DMK's side, as long as Stalin doesn’t take him into confidence. In fact, once in 2016, Alagiri said, “DMK will loose badly” and the DMK lost that year and was in the opposition.
Again, Stalin’s immediate challenges will be to find a loyal right hand man, like a loyal person, like how K Anbazhagan was to Karunanidhi; to find a capable and a trustworthy person for the post of Treasurer, currently held by Stalin and keep the rank and the file of the party strong as his father had.