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Kanimozhi birthday celebration sends signal on DMK solidarity
Kanimozhi who was elevated as one of the four DMK’s deputy general secretaries in October is also bringing back the famed ‘Chennai Sangamam’ which served as a political launchpad for her in 2007
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Thursday celebrated her 55th birthday in the presence of senior ministers and party leaders, including Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK chief MK Stalin, in Coimbatore, which experts said was aimed to show that all is well in the powerful political family of Tamil Nadu.
Stalin along with his son Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was inducted in the state cabinet as youth welfare and sports development minister last month, and a host of senior leaders, including school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and municipal administration minister K N Nehru, were present to wish her. This was one of the rare occasions where Kanimozhi and Udhayanidhi were seen together in a private space.
The duo was reportedly in conflict when Udhayanidhi began roping in young women last year into the DMK’s youth wing which he heads to which Kanimozhi had taken an exception to as she used to head the party’s women wing.
Stalin and Udhayanidhi’s visit is also being seen as a message from the CM that “he won’t overlook his half-sister”, according to political experts.
“Kanimozhi is a proven woman force. Even J Jayalalithaa considered her as a value addition to M Karunanidhi and she tried to neutralise Kanimozhi,” says political analyst Raveendran Duraisamy.
Kanimozhi who was elevated as one of the four DMK’s deputy general secretaries in October is also bringing back the famed ‘Chennai Sangamam’ which served as a political launchpad for her in 2007. The Sangamam is a cultural programme that brings together hundreds of folk artists from across the country, including Assam and West Bengal. The event will be inaugurated by Stalin on January 13 and it will continue during the Pongal festival (January 15-18), the government had said last week.
The Chennai Sangamam was discontinued when the AIADMK was ruling from 2011 to May 2021. Kanimozhi once again coordinating the festival comes close on the heels of Udhayanidhi, a first time MLA, being inducted to the cabinet. “As much as Kanimozhi is in Thoothukudi (as Rajya MP), she ensures that she does her duties in Chennai as well as in Delhi,” said a senior leader of the DMK, requesting anonymity.
Replying to the rumours of Kanimozhi being sidelined, the leader said: “She’s one of the strongest ideological leaders of the party and yes, she can never be sidelined.”
While the entire senior line of party leaders were in presence for Udhayanidhi’s elevation and believe “he is DMK’s succession plan”, Kanimozhi, who is unlikely to challenge his role, is also given prominent space in DMK’s events, according to the political observers.
Earlier, Stalin while referring to her at an event, described her as a “thunderous voice in Delhi”.
Kanimozhi has been the party’s women’s face as well as DMK’s representative in Delhi. When West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee called on Stalin at his Chennai residence in November 2022, the meeting was attended by Kanimozhi and Udhayanidhi besides party leader T R Baalu.
“Stalin considers Kanimozhi a powerful force but as someone who is subordinate to him in the power equation so he is giving her the eligible and proper space in the party,” said Duraisamy. “Whereas he promotes Udhayanidhi more emphatically.”
