Madurai: MK Alagiri on Thursday said he was ready to accept the leadership of younger brother Stalin, if readmitted into the DMK. He would not seek any position either for himself or for his son, “but they are not taking us back”, said the former Union Minister, springing a surprise and climbing down a huge step to indicate willingness to work under someone he hated almost all his life.
Alagiri was speaking to the media at hometown Madurai even as preparations were underway by his supporters for the September 5 ‘homage rally’ to his father Karunanidhi’s resting place at Marina, which is meant to demonstrate his ‘political strength’ than the love for late DMK patriarch who had expelled him from the party at the peak of his battle with Stalin.
Asked by a reporter if he would accept Stalin’s leadership and be willing to work under him, Alagiri shot back, “When (I) want to join the DMK, (I) have to accept him as president, isn’t it?”
The hostility in the tone and mind got more pronounced when Alagiri went on to repeat his claim that the majority of the DMK cadres are with him and not behind Stalin. When a reporter pointed out Stalin was elected the president of the party by its general council, he shot back, “But the party is not just those 1,500 members of the general council”.
“The real party cadres are solidly behind me. The numbers will go up after the (Sept 5) rally”, declared Alagiri. That’s a sure indication that the ‘offer’ to accept Stalin’s leadership if readmitted into the DMK could actually dynamite wrapped in a dry olive branch.
Within a few days after his father’s death, Alagiri had alleged that the party assets were being misused and that those in control would never allow his re-entry into the DMK for fear he would challenge their wrongdoings.
