Former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri, who was expelled from the DMK, has come under strident criticism from party leaders for his remarks against working president M.K. Stalin and the party’s performance in the R.K. Nagar bypoll.
In an interview to a Tamil magazine, Mr. Alagiri had said the DMK could not win any election in the future so long as it was headed by Mr. Stalin and accused him of offering party posts to leaders who joined the DMK from other political parties.
His remarks prompted the party’s Chennai-West secretary J. Anbazhagan to say, “These were comments of a sadist, envious of the acceptance of Mr. Stalin’s leadership among leaders of other political parties and not just the DMK.”
“Mr. Alagiri tries to give the impression that he is really concerned about the welfare of the party. But in reality, he is only rubbing salt on a wound. The party has suffered a defeat and it is common in a byelection. But people have a different perception,” Mr. Anbazhagan said. He added that if Mr. Alagiri was really interested in the welfare of the party, he could have raised the issues in the run-up to the elections. “He has chosen a wrong time to air his views. Thalapathi [M.K. Stalin] is sensitive to criticism from his family members and he [Alagiri] has tried the weapon to settle scores with him,” he said.
Chennai-South district secretary and former Mayor Ma. Subramanian said Mr. Alagiri, who was not a party member, had no locus standi to criticise the party.
“He talks about the health condition of our leader [M. Karunanidhi]. But it was he who tried to attack him when he was active. He is not able to stomach the leadership of Thalapathi and his hatred has manifested in his comments,” he said.
‘Not aware of reality’
Asked about the comment that partymen in R.K. Nagar had not worked properly in the election, Mr. Subramanian wondered how could Mr. Alagiri, who had not visited the field, was aware of the ground reality. “Only those who involved themselves in the election campaign know the reality. Thalapathy campaigned for three days, but money changed everything upside down,” he said.
Mr. Subramanian said the charge that new comers were being given party post did not hold water since any political party keen on expanding its base should accommodate cadres and leaders from other parties.
“Moreover, a byelection is not the indicator of a general trend. The DMK won the Pennagaram byelection in 2010 and the AIADMK lost its deposit. But in the 2011 general election, the AIADMK captured power. Mr. Alagiri may not know the reality,” he said.
