A war of succession has broken out in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. With octogenarian Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi making his preference for his younger son and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, the elder son and Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister M. K. Alagiri has declared his intention to contest the post of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) president. Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are due in 2011 and there is political uncertainty as to which way the poll verdict would swing.
The Opposition AIADMK of J. Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Congress at the center are both weighing the options available to them to take advantage of the emerging political situation in Tamil Nadu. All political parties are eyeing an opportunity in the southern state.
With the post-Karunanidhi scene getting hazy, there are other players watching with keen interest. These include the ruling Congress at the center, which lost power to the DMK way back in 1967 and the AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, who lost power in 2006, both wanting to take advantage of the simmering revolt in the DMK. Jayalalithaa broke her silence and exhorted her partymen not to lose heart.
The Congress, on the other hand, is trying to get its act together by trying to cobble up a coalition, which could help it to storm back to power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran is the son of Karunanidhi’s nephew Murasoli Maran and has been once estranged from the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. Dayanidhi Maran is also the blue-eyed boy of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The Congress is also toying with the idea of possibly entering into a coalition arrangement with Dayanidhi Maran, if he can lead an influential group in the DMK in the post-Karunanidhi scenario.
The entire sequence of events were triggered by an interview to a magazine given by Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister M K Alagiri that while his father M. Karunnanidhi was his supreme leader, he would not accept anyone else as his leader, that is in reference to his younger brother and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin. A perturbed Karunanidhi responded by stating that his successor will be chosen by the DMK. Immediately, M. K. Alagiri declared his intention to contest the election for the top post in the DMK, whenever that is held.
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