The opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday initiated patching up work with party chief M Karunanidhi's elder son M K Azhagiri, who was removed from the party two years ago.
The move comes barely a day after Vijayakanth’s DMDK joined People's Welfare Front (PWF) to fight the May 16 elections. A meeting was held between the expelled leader and former union minister Azhagiri and Karunanidhi in this regard. Though DMK party sources said Azhagiri met his father to enquire about his health, the meeting fuelled speculations of his possible re-entry into the DMK ahead of the May 16 Assembly polls.
However, his younger brother and DMK Treasurer M K Stalin, who was tipped to be the heir apparent to Karunanidhi, was not present in the house when the meeting took place. Karunanidhi had once openly stated that if he gets a chance to name his successor, he would propose the name of Stalin for the post.
This had triggered an angry reaction from Azhagiri who said that he would not accept anyone other than Karunanidhi as the leader and would not hesitate to throw the hat into the ring if there was a contest for the party president's post.
Azhagiri had been avoiding any meeting with Karunanidhi ever since he was expelled from the party on March 25, 2014 in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls for openly opposing an alliance with the DMDK led by actor politician Vijayakanth.
Azhagiri, who was the DMK south zone secretary and wielded considerable image in the southern districts, was dismissed form the party for his persistent slanderous attacks on party seniors and anti-party activities, that took the sibling rivalry in the DMK’s first family to a point of no return. His expulsion dealt a severe blow to the party, which went alone and drew a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
But his meeting, a day after DMK's hope was shattered by Vijayakanth's decision to align with the PWF for the ensuing Assembly polls, drew speculations about a possible come back in the party. Reacting to the meeting, Stalin did not attach any political significance to it.
The move comes barely a day after Vijayakanth’s DMDK joined People's Welfare Front (PWF) to fight the May 16 elections. A meeting was held between the expelled leader and former union minister Azhagiri and Karunanidhi in this regard. Though DMK party sources said Azhagiri met his father to enquire about his health, the meeting fuelled speculations of his possible re-entry into the DMK ahead of the May 16 Assembly polls.
However, his younger brother and DMK Treasurer M K Stalin, who was tipped to be the heir apparent to Karunanidhi, was not present in the house when the meeting took place. Karunanidhi had once openly stated that if he gets a chance to name his successor, he would propose the name of Stalin for the post.
This had triggered an angry reaction from Azhagiri who said that he would not accept anyone other than Karunanidhi as the leader and would not hesitate to throw the hat into the ring if there was a contest for the party president's post.
Azhagiri had been avoiding any meeting with Karunanidhi ever since he was expelled from the party on March 25, 2014 in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls for openly opposing an alliance with the DMDK led by actor politician Vijayakanth.
Azhagiri, who was the DMK south zone secretary and wielded considerable image in the southern districts, was dismissed form the party for his persistent slanderous attacks on party seniors and anti-party activities, that took the sibling rivalry in the DMK’s first family to a point of no return. His expulsion dealt a severe blow to the party, which went alone and drew a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
But his meeting, a day after DMK's hope was shattered by Vijayakanth's decision to align with the PWF for the ensuing Assembly polls, drew speculations about a possible come back in the party. Reacting to the meeting, Stalin did not attach any political significance to it.