The Hindu : Azhagiri takes over the reins again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Azhagiri takes over the reins again

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI FEB. 25. M.K. Azhagiri, elder son of the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, has taken control of party affairs in southern districts, once again. The party chief almost endorsed his "elevation" during his two-day visit here, which concluded yesterday.

Even as a cloud of dissent was hovering over party circles, Mr. Azhagiri and his loyalists took over the management of Mr. Karunanidhi's programmes. The former Chief Minister, who attributed the "grand success" of Sunday's book release function to his Madurai-based son, wondered why he should not be given a party post when scribes asked him about the widening gap between the Stalin and Azhagiri factions.

Stalin men keep low profile

All through the programme, supporters of M.K. Stalin, younger son of Mr. Karunanidhi, maintained a low profile and were seen nowhere near the stage when the second edition of Tholkappia Poonga, written by the DMK chief, was released. They were seated outside the auditorium watching the programme on closed circuit television.

Even at the hotel where Mr. Karunanidhi stayed, they remained on the lawns or in the lobby and avoided eye contact with others who were in close quarters to the VIP. The former Speaker, P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan, confined himself to making a "courtesy call" on the first day at the hotel.

Functionaries of both the factions met Mr. Karunanidhi in groups, to receive copies of Thoklappia Poonga. However, there was no open discussion of the feud or sidelining of Stalin supporters. The close confidants of Mr. Azhagiri, including the former Minister, Pon Muthuramalingam; the former Aavin chairman, P.M. Mannan; the former Madurai Mayor, P. Kulandaivelu, and the Corporation councillor, V.K. Gurusamy, were in the limelight during the `all-Azhagiri show'.

Visit cheers up cadres

However, even as differences persist, Mr. Karunanidhi's visit has cheered up the cadres though not many could personally greet the leader and receive a copy of Tholkappia Poonga, sale of which fetched around Rs. 30 lakhs in 24 hours.

Though there was no meeting of district secretaries, almost all senior functionaries called on Mr. Karunanidhi, who preferred not to raise the faction issue. During his address at the book-release function, the party chief warned of action against those who defied high command directives.

Earlier, talking to presspersons, he did acknowledge that factionalism was a "black dot" and called on members in both the groups to unite.

With Stalin supporters claiming that they still formed a chunk of the party's base in the southern districts, the coming Madurai urban district committee elections will be a test of strength, though a majority of party posts are claimed to have been clinched by members of the Stalin-camp at the district level. Meanwhile, Mr. Azhagiri has thanked the cadres for the "overwhelming" success of the book release function. In a release here, he said all 3,000 copies of Tholkappia Poonga were sold out in two days.

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Azhagiri takes over the reins again