Signs of split within DMK as Alagiri skips party meet

Mangalore Today/CNN-IBN

Chennai, March 25, 2013: All does not seem to be well within the DMK as party chief Karunanidhi’s son MK Alagiri has skipped the executive meeting and has left for Madurai. Alagiri is reportedly upset with younger brother MK Stalin, Karunanidhi’s political heir, for reportedly pushing their father to withdraw support to the UPA.

 

 

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) executive met on Monday to decide its next course of action, nearly a week after leaving the UPA government over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. The party has decided not to extend even outside support to UPA.

 

 

DMK leader Tiruchi Shiva said, "We have withdrawn support to the UPA and have decided not to offer even outside support to the UPA. The meeting was held to discuss how to fight for the Sri Lankan Tamils."

Karunanidhi and other senior DMK leaders, meanwhile, are miffed with Alagiri for calling on Congress leaders. Alagiri had reportedly met Finance Minister P Chidambaram after submitting his resignation to the Prime Minister.

Sibling rivalry is not new in DMK with Alagiri and his brother Stalin vying for the coveted "political heir apparent" throne of Karunanidhi. Recently, the DMK chief had indicated that Stalin would be his successor, drawing flak from Alagiri who said that DMK is not a "mutt" where a senior pontiff can anoint his successor.

Nearly a week after leaving the UPA government over the Lankan crisis, the DMK top brass will meet on Monday in Chennai to decide their next course of action. The DMK executive body is expected to plan their strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections on whether to provide outside support or not.

Karunandihi’s son Stalin has been at the forefront in getting the DMK to withdraw support and with the CBI raiding his house in a DRI case, it’s quite unlikely that the party will look for a possible truce with the Centre.

The DMK meet also comes days after India voted against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva. India did not move any amendments to the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka even as DMK had demanded inclusion of the word ’genocide’ in the draft.

The DMK ministers had resigned after DMK withdrew support to the UPA government over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. MK Alagiri, SS Palanimanickam, S Gandhiselvan, S Jagathrakshakan and D Nepoleon had submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.