Recent developments within the DMK that hinted at a possible rift between the party’s patriarch M Karunanidhi and his son-cum-heir apparent M.K. Stalin, have prompted a section of the second line leadership to privately call for a greater role for Mr Stalin to steer the party.
While this section of senior leaders is not denying that Mr. Karunanidhi is quite active for his age — which is what prompted him to declare that he would breathe his last only after securing a victory for the DMK, it feels that it would be unfair to Mr Stalin to keep him waiting longer. More so, as it was Mr. Karunanidhi, who between January 2003 and September 2016, made numerous statements that he would be given a larger role in the party’s affairs, which Mr Stalin’s supporters found tantalising. Signs that the father and son were not in agreement over every decision making process emerged last week when Mr. Stalin without consulting the DMK president granted an appointment to TMC leader G.K. Vasan, who in the run-up to the last Assembly elections waited endlessly for a call from AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and refused to join the DMK-led alliance. The same day, Mr. Karunanidhi hurriedly granted an appointment to the new TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar, as if to counter Mr Stalin.
Expressing disappointment over such rifts, a senior leader and office-bearer of the party, said, “We are not asking him (Mr. Karunanidhi) to name a third person as his successor. He cannot afford to change the track after creating a lot of expectation about Mr Stalin’s leadership. He is his son and has come a long way since his torturous period during Emergency. But for his (Stalin) aggressive campaign, the DMK would not have secured these many seats in the Assembly.”
Mr. Karunanidhi asserted his position as the one who would steer the party to victory as a response to the party’s principal general secretary Duraimurugan’s suggestion that Mr. Stalin was capable of running the party for the next 50 years. On similar occasions in the past, Mr. Karunanidhi had endorsed the views of other leaders on the DMK treasurer and openly named him as his successor. But on September 17, he chose to react in a different manner.
While they concede Karunanidhi is still active for his age, it is not fair to keep Stalin waiting
