Stalin will grow, but can’t bypass Thalaivar for now

In giving the boot to the three district secretaries too, including his two loyalists Veeragopalan in Coimbatore and Gandhiselvan in Namakkal, the DMK patriarch had showed resistance. Reliable sources say that the nonagenarian had initially recommended an internal inquiry to tick the errant district secretaries off for their indiscipline, thanks to Stalin’s perseverance. Karunanidhi had finally blinked, and hence the pink slips to a few district secretaries. If he had laboured so hard to issue marching orders to a few spoilers, little needs to be said about the preceding LoP appointment. 

Even rank DMK insiders admitted that Stalin had pulled off a coup by getting his name cleared for Leader of Opposition by Karunanidhi who was initially reluctant to relinquish the privilege. “If Kalaignar really were keen on appointing Stalin as LoP, he could have convened the DMK legislature party and got it done even a day before Stalin attended Jayalalithaa’s swearing-in ceremony. There were differences aplenty in LoP election,” said a DMK senior, euphemistically adding, “Stalin can grow, but not without Thalaivar’ s official sanction. Even a speck of dust cannot settle or be removed in Anna Arivalayam unless leader agrees, even reluctantly.”

 “Will sacking three district districts do? At least a dozen more ought to be sacked for fuelling infighting and spoiling the party’s chances in the Assembly election. There is ample evidence to show several district secretaries’ cut-throat activities. The treasurer is aware of it and he wants at least a few of them to be weeded out summarily. Even if Kalaignar does not do it grudgingly, the party will suffer even more,” said a functionary from western Tamil Nadu, where the party managed only 5 of the 43 seats it had contested. 

Another senior functionary DTNext interacted with confided that the confrontation between the father and son is only the beginning. “It is a struggle Stalin has to endure for years. Whether Thalaivar likes it or not, the transition has started and hence the discernible difference (of opinion) between them,” said the functionary close to both the father and son.