DMK patriarch’s clan on a touring spree

Chennai: The DMK first family has gone into overdrive. Nonagenarian DMK president M. Karunanidhi’s ambitious ‘children’ are on a touring spree.

His 62-year-old party treasurer-son M.K. Stalin has already covered over half a dozen districts at breakneck speed in a week.

Stalin, who has donned a new look to woo the young voters, plans to leave his imprint in the remaining 25 districts or rather all 234 constituencies, hopefully, by early November when he will be winding up the ongoing “namakku naamey” (we for ourselves) tour.

From autorickshaw on day one to motorbike and bicycle on subsequent days, the T-shirt and trouser clad DMK treasurer, who deliberately did away with the trademark red and black bordered white dhoti and shirt, on Sunday did not spare even a crowded town bus in Theni to connect with the voters.

The roadside teashops and occasional community halls have been his favourite hangouts, where he broke bread with the working class and students ever since he kicked off the tour from Kanyakumari on September 20.

Karunanidhi’s Rajya Sabha MP daughter Kanimozhi has already covered some ground along with eight other party functionaries who have been eliciting public views to prepare the party’s manifesto for 2016. Kanimozhi and team have already met various stakeholders in over 20 districts in the last few months.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle after an exhaustive three-hour meeting of the manifesto committee at Villupuram on Sunday, she said, “People have so many problems. But, they have no one (in the government) to air their grievances to.”

Even Karunanidhi’s estranged son M.K. Alagiri is out touring. And he has covered more distance than others.

The only difference is Alagiri has been cooling his heels in Hong Kong among other exotic tourist getaways along with his wife Kanthi, while the other two here have been wooing voters.