The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Stalin named DMK working president
Mkstalinwaswednesdayappointed working president of DMK owing to the poor health of his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi,92.thedecisionwastaken at a DMK general council meet in Chennai. Nearly 3,000 party members took part in the meetingthatwaspresidedoverbydmk general secretary K Anbazhagan.
During the meeting, several other resolutions were adopted, including one that condemned demonetisation. Party sources said Karunanidhi was unable to attend the meeting as doctors had advised him rest.
“At a time when our leader is not well, I accept this position with a heavy heart,” said Stalin, after taking charge. Sixty-threeyear-old Stalin will retain his post as party treasurer and chief of DMK’S youth wing.
Stalin has assumed the post of DMK chief at a crucial point in Tamil Nadu politics that has entered an era without two veteran Dravidian leaders — an ailing Karunanidhi and the late J Jayalalithaa.
Sources close to Karunanidhi said that he did not elevate Stalin earlier as he did not want to be known as a leader who made his son the CM or the party chief.
Stalin has been in active politics since the Emergency in mid1970s when he was arrested and imprisoned. At that point, Karunanidhi had called meetings of a five-member party committee and a party council to decide on Stalin’s induction into mainstream politics.
During his long, patient wait to become party chief, Stalin took a brief break from politics in the 1980s, when he acted in a TV serial. He became the mayor of Chennai in 1996 and went on to become deputy CM in 2009.
Stalin was always seen as a person who respected the party hierarchy. From early 2014, he has been wielding significant power in the appointment of party functionaries in districts. He now has significant influence even in Madurai, once a stronghold of his elder brother M K Alagiri. In fact, it was the tussle for heirdom between Alagiri and Stalin that forced Karunanidhi to send his elder son to Madurai in 1980s.
Stalin has always maintained a cautious distance from 2G accused A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran. However, Raja was seen beside Stalin Wednesday morning as the latter emerged from the DMK council meeting.