DMK General Council meeting: After being elected president unopposed, Stalin pays respect to party founder C N Annadurai and former chief M Karunanidhi (Source: ANI)
M K Stalin was elected president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday at the party’s General Council meeting. The 65-year-old, has been poised to take over the reins of the party from his father, the late M Karunanidhi, had filed his nomination papers on Sunday. Stalin, who has been at the helm of DMK’s affairs since the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections in 2016, was appointed ‘working president’ of the party in 2017. He is the third leader of the party, after founder C N Annadurai and Karunanidhi.
Karunanidhi’s death on August 7 had led to a succession war within the party, with expelled party leader M K Alagiri — Karunanidhi’s son — claiming DMK’s “true loyalists” were on his side. Despite being expelled from the party in 2014 for ‘anti-party activities’, Alagiri has claimed he is heir to the party and has questioned Stalin’s leadership. On the eve of the General Council meet, Alagiri had warned of consequences if he was not readmitted to the party.
In pictures | Inside DMK’s General Council meet
M K Stalin visits Karunanidhi's memorial at Marina beach after the party's General Council meeting.
(ANI Photo)
Stalin has addressed the General Council. In his first speech since being elected DMK president, Stalin says the political atmosphere in the country today is a "grave challenge" as education, art, literature and religion are under attack by communal forces, reports ANI. He adds that the Union government is trying to destabilise the judiciary and the process of selecting Governors. "All this has dealt a blow to the secular principles," Stalin is quoted as saying by ANI.
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanswamy congratulates Stalin.
DMK workers in Coimbatore distribute sweets after MK Stalin was elected as the President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has congratulated Stalin on his election.
Stalin is expected to visit his father's memorial after the General Council meeting ends, reports ANI.
(Source: ANI)
TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulates M K Stalin on becoming DMK chief.
The DMK's General Council meeting is underway. Around 4,000 members are participating in the meeting which is being held at the party's headquarters in Chennai. The party has now passed a resolution urging the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna to M Karunanidhi. The party has also decided against creating a post of DMK chairperson. A resolution to this effect has been passed.
M K Stalin is now chief of the DMK. After years of being second in command, the leader now holds reins of the party. Stalin's elevation comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is witnessing a political churn, following the death of J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections around the corner and two significant bypolls coming up, Stalin has hit work cut out. His brother M K Alagiri, who has warned of consequences if not readmitted in the party, also poses as a challenge for Stalin. Read more: New battlelines and ideologies are taking shape in Tamil Nadu.
M K Stalin, who has been elected as the party president, will be well aware of the huge boots he has to fill. As he steps into his new role, Stalin will know comparisons with his father Karunanidhi, who passed away on August 7, are inevitable and will carry the burden of a legacy that comes from being the ‘leader’s son’. While Stalin’s rise in DMK’s ranks has not been meteoric in his five-decades-old political career, it was only after his brother Alagiri’s ouster from the party in 2014 that he got the much-needed elbow room, and only after Karunanidhi retired from active politics did he emerge as the working president. Read more here.
The DMK has elevated M K Stalin to president of the party while Duraimurugan has taken over the position of treasurer. Stalin is the third president of the party, after C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi.
Stalin pays respect to party founder C N Annadurai and former chief M Karunanidhi (Source: ANI)
The first test for Stalin’s leadership: He will need to maximise the returns for the party, when the general election is held next year. With 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the party that sweeps Tamil Nadu can, potentially, influence the affairs at the Centre. Under Karunanidhi, the DMK drew its energy from its Dravidian Movement legacy and the patriarch’s political intelligence in reading the situation. Stalin may need the legacy and more than that to firm up the party’s pole position in the state. Read the editorial, 'Stalin's challenge' here.
As the DMK elects Stalin as its president, here's a look at his long climb to the top. The Indian Express' Assistant Editor Arun Janardhanan writes: "From the image of 'a bratty VIP kid' in his early years to ‘Aravindan’ — the character of a journalist that Stalin played in Doordarshan TV serial Kurinji Malar in the mid-1990s — and now, ‘Thalapathi (General, as he has come to be known)’, Stalin has come a long way." Thalapathi’s time: MK Stalin finally emerges as the undisputed chief of DMK
Taking to Twitter on Monday, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram congratulated Stalin. "I am pleased to congratulate Mrs. Stalin, who will be nominated as DMK chief and selected tomorrow," he tweeted.
Nominations for the posts of president and treasurer were held on Sunday, August 26. While Stalin filed his papers for the post of president, Duraimurugan filed papers for the post of treasurers, which was held by Stalin. Here are some pictures from Sunday. You can follow LIVE UPDATES on the DMK General Council Meeting in Tamil here.
(PTI Photos)
The General Council meeting is underway in Chennai.
On the eve of the General Council meeting, M K Alagiri warned of consequences if he was not readmitted to the party. Alagiri, the elder son of Karunanidhi, was expelled from the DMK in 2014 for 'anti-party activities'. He was quoted by PTI saying, "Kalaingar (Karunanidhi) is not there now. The party has to be saved and protected. If they don’t readmit me, they will have to face consequences."
The decision to elevate Stalin is likely to be unanimously today. Senior leader and party principal secretary Duraimurugan, meanwhile, is likely to fill the position of treasurer, which was held by Stalin.
M K Stalin is set to take over as president of the DMK today, at the party's general council meeting in Chennai. If election, Stalin will be the party's third president, after C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi. Stalin was appointed working president of the party in January 2017, after leading the party's campaign for the 2016 Assembly Elections. He's been heading DMK's affairs since 2016, when Karunanidhi fell ill. Follow our blog for the latest news and updates.
Visuals from the DMK headquraters in Chennai (ANI Photo)