MADURAI: The disciplinary action against DMK Madurai unit presidium chairman E Essaki Muthu for snubbing the prince-in-waiting M K Stalin is being viewed as a major setback for party south zone organising secretary and Union Minister M K Alagiri.Many see the development as evidence of the party high command’s keenness to downgrade Alagiri’s political relevance in the DMK organisational structure.That Muthu was expelled just a day after Alagiri’s tough posturing questioning the legitimacy of show cause notices issued to 17 of his supporters for boycotting a public meeting convened by Stalin in Madurai is not lost on observers.“Only three years ago, the party rewarded him by creating the post of south zone organising secretary after he landed 10 Lok Sabha seats in the kitty of the DMK-led alliance. Today, the party no longer finds his presence relevant after the DMK came a cropper in Madurai and the southern region in the last Assembly elections,” an observer said. Chronicling the sustained attempts by the party leadership especially his younger brother M K Stalin to snub Alagiri, a long-time supporter said, “The party leadership did not even inform Alagiri about Stalin’s programme Madurai. He was not aware of the public meeting nor was his name published in the invitations. The party leadership gave the nod for the meet knowing that Alagiri would be in China at that time.” Apparently, Alagiri had conveyed to the party high command (read his father M Karunanidhi) that some other senior leader could be asked to address the public meeting instead of Stalin. But none paid heed to him.Interestingly, now the once unswerving Alagiri loyalists are split with even his close supporter Thalapathi ignoring him and making arrangements for Stalin’s public meets. While a section of the cadre here feels that Stalin is a more acceptable face for the DMK, some diehard loyalists are sore that the high command has “misjudged” Alagiri’s political value just because he failed to deliver in one election.
Comments
0 comment