Chennai: A day after a historic comeback by AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, who was sworn in Chief Minister for a fifth time on Saturday, DMK’s scion and party treasurer M.K. Stalin has sought to turn the spotlight on Madurai with a surprise rally at Oathakadai there on Sunday. South Tamil Nadu has largely been AIADMK’s forte since the party founder-leader MGR’s days. The return of Ms Jayalalithaa to take control of the government has thus expectedly put Mr Stalin on a fast track to shore up DMK’s southern fortunes beginning with a rally in Madurai.
‘Kelvi Ketkum Perani’- is how Mr Stalin has billed his Madurai rally in a Facebook post on Saturday. Though Mr Alagiri’s expulsion had created a dent in the DMK’s performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Mr Stalin has been rebuilding party units in the south and emerging as a leader in his own right. The recent bonhomie among opposition parties he has been pushing for– by inviting leaders of all political hues for his nephew’s wedding has also signalled DMK trying a ‘grand alliance’ ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls.
However, it is the recent acquittal of Ms Jayalalithaa in the assets case by the Karnataka high court that has put the DMK in a dilemma, say sources. Two former AIADMK strongmen in the south – Karuppusamy Pandian and Anita Radhakrishnan - were suspended last week by the DMK soon after they sought to reaffirm their loyalty to ‘Amma’. This triggered an anxiety that if more such erstwhile AIADMK bigwigs in the south follow suit, it would be seen as a ‘minus’ for the DMK, and hence Mr Stalin chose Madurai as the rally venue to make it a show of strength, sources explained.
