MK Alagiri, the former DMK Cabinet minister and son of the late founder of the party, Karunanidhi has taken out a ‘peace rally’ to mourn the death of his father M Karunanidhi from Triplicane police station to the site of Karunanidhi’s memorial. Over 8,000 people had gathered from various constituencies across the state.
After paying his respects to M Karunanidhi at the memorial, he spoke to the press;
On being asked if he would be reinstated into the party, and what he thought of the ouster, he had this to say:
Alagiri had promised to take out a ‘peace rally’ to mourn the death of his father two days ago. On 13th August, Alagiri also warned of dire consequences if he were not reinstated into the DMK and said:
The ‘peace rally’ could well be a show of strength, to force the DMK into reinstating him into the party. He has a large, loyal following across Madurai and neighboring districts, and will likely split the DMK’s votes, if he were to stand as an individual candidate.
While Karunanidhi never professed open support for either Alagiri or Stalin, he did have an obvious hand in shaping the latter's career. Shortly before Alagiri's removal from the party in 2014, Karunanidhi announced M K Stalin as his political heir. This announcement remained unquestioned until Karunanidhi's death.
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