Click to play videoNew Delhi: The political differences between two sons of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi are now out in the open. Three people were burnt to death in Madurai on Wednesday when supporters of Karunanidhi’s elder son and DMK leader M K Azhagiri allegedly set fire to the Madurai office of Tamil daily Dinakaran.
The party workers burnt the newspaper office to protest a survey, Makkal Manasu (What People Think), published by the daily, which showed that 70 per cent of the people favour Karunanidhi’s younger son M K Stalin as the political heir in DMK party. Only two per cent voted for the elder son Azhagiri, who controls the party cadres in Southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
The attackers burnt copies of the daily at several places in Cumbum, Theni, Kamuthi, Bodinayakanur, Gudalur, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Tuticorin in south Tamil Nadu. The survey was jointly conducted by Dinakaran and AC Nielsen.
While Karunandhi brushed aside the incident as an inconsequential one saying that DMK is a democratic party and that no one will be chosen on the basis of family heredity, a majority shares the view that the battle for succession within DMK has begun.
That was the topic of debate on CNN-IBN show Face the Nation hosted by Vidya Shankar Aiyar. He was joined by political commentator V Krishna Ananth to discuss the issue.
Is the war of succession within DMK out in the open?
The differences between the two sons of Karunanidhi have surfaced on earlier occasions too.
Though Azhagiri is elder, Stalin is senior to him in politics. Stalin was imprisoned during the Emergency and later became the leader of the DMK's youth wing in 1980. He was elected to the state assembly four times and also became the mayor of Chennai in 1996.
In comparison, Azhagiri was known to be a 'leader of musclemen" and in September 2000, during the DMK regime, his men were detained under the National Security Act after they burnt buses following a feud within the party. He was also arrested in 2003 on charges of murder of a DMK leader and former state minister T Kiruttinan.
After the DMK came to power last year, a sort of compromise was brokered between the two brothers. While Stalin was accommodated in the Ministry, Azhagiri was given charge of southern Tamil Nadu.
On being asked as to why Karunanidhi has been building up a political career for his younger son M K Stalin while ignoring the elder one Azhagiri who has been his strength in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, political commentator Krishna Ananth said, “Azhagiri has not been able to achieve much for the DMK in the state.”
“Azhagiri has become strong only recently. If you look at the political mosaic of Tamil Nadu — the southern districts have never been under DMK strong hold. It’s been an AIADMK fortress. In a large sense Azhagiri did not achieve anything. And he knows very well that Stalin is going to be the head,” he added.
Rift between Karunanidhi and the Marans?
The Maran family owns Dinakaran. The current violence is being seen an attack on the owner of the news daily Kalanidhi Maran who is a relative of Karunanidhi .
“I don’t think the divide between Maran and Karunanidhi has been signified just now. The divide has been on ever since Karunanidhi became the CM. The only new thing is Azhagiri’s entry into the whole political issue.
Karunanidhi’s elder son all this while was playing a second fiddle and had sort of contended himself to the party affairs in Madurai and in the southern districts. His arrival into the big scenario is something new,” said Krishna.
The incident has occurred at a time when Karunanidhi is about to celebrate the completion of his 50 years in legislative politics. The DMK chief is going to be felicitated on May 11 for having spent 50 years in the state assembly of Tamil Nadu.
Karunanidhi wanted to postpone the date but he was convinced to carry on because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are also expected to attend the felicitation on May 11.
Reportedly Karunanidhi had shown dissent to the newspaper survey being published at a time when he is to celebrate completion of 50 years in Assembly.
Referring to Azhagiri’s remark that the survey has ruined celebrations and caused bitterness and anguish, Kalanidhi Maran said, "death of three employees of the SUN Network is not the solution".
Describing the attack on the office of Dinakaran as an attack on "freedom of the Press", the Managing Director of the Sun Network Kalanidhi Maran vowed to fight against both the state and Central Governments till "justice was rendered".
Maran is pained by the incident, which he says has taken place during Karunanidhi's regime. “We fought for this government to come into being and the incident has occurred during this period," he said.
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