All Eyes On Alagiri After Stalin Set To Be Sworn-In As DMK Chief On Tuesday

While Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Working President M K Stalin is all set to take over as the party’s president on Tuesday (28 August), all eyes are now on his brother M K Alagiri, who has called for a rally of his supporters in Chennai on 5 September.

On Sunday (26 August), only Stalin had filed the nomination for the party president’s post, while the DMK deputy leader in the assembly Duraimurugan is set to become the treasurer, a post that Stalin had held before be was made the working president in January last year.

Alagiri, who was expelled from the party in 2014 for anti-party activities, has called for a rally to commemorate the thirtieth day of the passing away of his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. Alagiri has made no bones of the rally being a starting point of questioning the leadership of Stalin by telling a wire agency that the rally will be a “threat to the DMK.”.

Tamil daily Dinamalar reported Alagiri telling reporters in Madurai that he and his supporters would file nominations for the by-elections. The daily said that the Alagiri camp is reaching out to the dissidents and opponents of Stalin, particularly in north Tamil Nadu. The camp has also reached out to a Namakkal party leader expelled recently, while contacting a former minister in Dharmapuri.

Within two days of Karunanidhi’s death, Alagiri signalled that it would not be a smooth going for Stalin by visiting the place where the late chief minister was buried. He then said all true supporters of DMK were with him.

Alagiri has a good follower base in southern Tamil Nadu and at one point of time he was asked to look after the affairs in that region. However, in the last few years Stalin has gained control of the party, which is allegedly the reason behind the expulsion of Alagiri.