Karunanidhi attends meet, snubs Alagiri

Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on Wednesday snubbed his son MK Alagiri by inaugurating a cultural meet organised by tainted NGO Tamil Maiyam, which is supported by his half-sister Kanimozhi.

Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on Wednesday snubbed his son MK Alagiri by inaugurating a cultural meet organised by tainted NGO Tamil Maiyam, which is supported by his half-sister Kanimozhi.

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The NGO was raided by the CBI in connection with 2G scam investigations last month.

Alagiri had reportedly asked his father to avoid Tamil Maiyam's six-day annual festival, Chennai Sangamam, as he felt it might cost the party dear in the assembly elections in May.

But Karunanidhi not only inaugurated the festival at the Island Grounds here, he also heaped praise on Kanimozhi for her efforts to protect and promote the Tamil language.

Karunanidhi's younger son and deputy chief minister MK Stalin, union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran, other party bigwigs and state ministers were also present at the event. Alagiri gave the event a miss and stayed back in Madurai.

The sulking son was also reportedly annoyed with Tamil Nadu IT minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna — who is Kanimozhi's protégé — as she had referred to him in poor light during her phone conversations with lobbyist Niira Radia.

Alagiri had recently issued an ultimatum to Karunanidhi saying he would quit as union chemicals and fertilisers minister and as DMK's organising secretary (south) if Kanimozhi and former telecom minister A Raja were not stripped of all DMK posts. Raja is the propaganda secretary of the DMK.

Alalgiri's move was seen as a pressure tactic to secure a senior position within the party, as he wants to return to the centre-stage of state politics.

Karunanidhi has maintained that Raja was innocent and that his innocence would be vindicated after the investigations. "We will take action against Raja if the charges against him are proven," the chief minister had said last month.