Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin filed his nomination seeking a second term as DMK president with the party organization secretary R S Bharathi at Anna Arivalayam on Friday amidst the cheers of leaders, functionaries and cadre who had gathered in large numbers to celebrate the moment.
Ahead of driving to the party headquarters to file his nomination for the post of president, Stalin visited the memorials of DMK founder C N Annadurai and former Chief Minister M K Karunanidhi on the Marina sands. The nomination papers were placed on the resting place of Karunanidhi that was bedecked with flowers.
Subsequent to filing the papers, Stalin went to the Gopalapuram residence of Karunanidhi and paid floral tributes to the portrait of his father and former Chief Minister.
Most of the party’s top leaders like Duraimurugan, who has filed his papers seeking reelection for the General Secretary’s post, and T R Baalu, contesting for the second time to become the treasurer, were present when Stalin visited Anna Arivalayam.
Prominent among the other party leaders who were with Stalin were party MPs Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and A Raja and also MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin. Apart from the top three posts, elections will also be held for four members of the audit committee on Sunday, October 9, when the general council would meet at the St George’s Anglo-Indian School in Chennai.
The deputy general secretary’s post lying vacant since the resignation of Subulakshmi Jagadeesan in August will be filled up at the general council meeting and speculation was rife that Kanimozhi might be entrusted with the responsibility.
The general council on Sunday and the announcement of the party office bearers at the occasion will mark the culmination of a six month long election process to hold the mandatory organizational elections to select a wide range of functionaries of the party.
It started with elections at the grassroots level units of the party and then went up to the village or town or city levels and progressed to the elections of the district secretaries, a key post in the DMK that has 72 party districts.
