By handing over arrangements for his pet project, the World Classical Tamil Conference, DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister has sent out a message to his party cadres and feuding sons M.K. Stalin and M.K. Alagiri.
And the message was that his younger son and Deputy CM Stalin would succeed him as the top man in the party and government after the patriarch retires.
The successful management of the inauguration of the World Classical Tamil Conference and the smooth handling of crowds under Stalin’s supervision ranked him as the frontrunner in the succession battle to succeed Karunanidhi, DMK sources said here on Wednesday.
Karunanidhi’s elder son and Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister M.K. Alagiri was seen sitting quietly among the party leaders and functionaries while Stalin launched the event with his welcome address.
Their sister and Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi was seen active at the event, mingling with VIPs and intellectuals. “It was Stalin who was visiting the venue, fine-tuning the arrangements and dealing with organisational issues,” a party worker said.
Bernard D’Sami, history professor at Loyola College in Chennai who has been tracking the DMK since its inception agrees with this view. “Surely, an indirect message has been sent out by Karunanidhi that Stalin is his heir-apparent,” D’Sami said from Chennai.
{{/usCountry}}Bernard D’Sami, history professor at Loyola College in Chennai who has been tracking the DMK since its inception agrees with this view. “Surely, an indirect message has been sent out by Karunanidhi that Stalin is his heir-apparent,” D’Sami said from Chennai.
{{/usCountry}}The other message that emerged on the first day of the five-day event was that Tamil pride would be a major election plank for the DMK in the assembly polls in the state next year.