Weeks after asserting that his son and party treasurer M.K. Stalin has been living up to his expectations totally, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday dropped yet another hint that the former will be his political successor, saying the party treasurer will continue to carry forward his work after him. “I will dedicate myself to the cause of betterment of Dalits till the last. The question that naturally arises is who will be after me, and you should not forget that the answer is M.K. Stalin,” Mr. Karunanidhi said while admitting a section of Pattali Makkal Katchi workers of Vellore district in to the DMK.
His earlier reference to Mr. Stalin, who will turn 60 in two months, was made on November 12. The occasion was a function to felicitate Mr. Stalin and the former Union Minister, T.R. Baalu, for handing over a copy of the text of the resolution adopted at the TESO conference to the United Nations and the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Mr. Karunanidhi has been indicating for the last five years that his son will be assigned bigger responsibilities. It was at the 2007 youth wing conference of the party in Tirunelveli that the DMK chief acknowledged that people were nursing expectations about Mr. Stalin, who was then the party’s deputy general secretary. In December 2008, Mr. Stalin was made treasurer of the party. Six months later, after the victory of the DMK-led front in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he became Deputy Chief Minister. After his party lost power in the 2011 Assembly polls, he has been keeping himself busy with visits to different parts of the State and interactions with party workers.
