It has been a rough time for the DMK over the past few months. Facing setbacks in by-elections and local body elections, morale of the cadres remain at an all-time low. On one had hand, there is a rising anti-DMK wave, thanks to social media. Time and again, the party leaders find themselves in controversies by making distasteful remarks against certain sections of the Tamil populace especially the Dalits and Brahmins. The DMK chief MK Stalin has given a new life to the creative minds aka meme creators owing to his oratory skills.
On the other hand, the discontentment against the party and the leadership is also engulfing the party cadres. A senior leader of the DMK quit the party and joined the BJP Tamil Nadu who has now become the State Vice President. The DMK has also been facing flak over the death of its Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni MLA Anbazhagan who succumbed to COVID19. Even the DMK cadres themselves are openly blaming the party’s propaganda initiative “Ondrinaivom Vaa” (let’s come together) as the MLA who had comorbidities contracted the virus when he was involved in the campaign.
In light of this, another headache has been lingering for a while for the party – who will be the next general secretary of the party? Veteran DMK leader Prof. K. Anbazhagan served as the party’s general secretary for 9 terms. Post his demise in March 2020, the party’s confusion over who the next general secretary will be has escalated. It is but natural for both cadres and political observers to expect Duraimurugan to get the post. Months have passed since Anbazhagan’s demise but there has been no announcement on this yet. Party insiders and cadres of the DMK are speculating whether Prashant Kishor and his IPAC team are brewing something. Those close to the corridors of Arivalayam say that Duraimurugan remains anxious and frustrated about whether he will get to be the party’s general secretary or not. It is being said that there exists a group that is opposing him being given the post. Some others openly say that had Karunanidhi been alive, he would have definitely elevated and decorated Duraimurugan as general secretary. However, it would be naïve to even think so because the DMK is a family enterprise and nobody out of the Karunanidhi family can afford to have aspirations for higher posts in the party.
The post of general secretary is a coveted one in the DMK. It was held by Prof. K. Anbazhagan till his death. It has remained vacant since then. It is being said that senior leaders like R.S. Bharathi, A.V. Velu, and I. Periyasamy are after this post.
This post was traditionally helmed by persons belonging to the Mudaliar community like C.N. Annadurai, Nedunchezhiyan, and Prof. K. Anbazhagan.
A section of the cadres want this custom to continue and are lobbying for people like R.S. Bharathi.
Earlier, the DMK President MK Stalin had asked Duraimurugan to resign from his post of DMK Treasurer. He too obliged, but has been kept on the hook ever since. However, very soon, things took a turn and Duraimurugan was reinstated as treasurer by Stalin. This has raised doubts whether Stalin would make Duraimurugan the general secretary or would sideline him for someone else.
There is also another angle to the crisis that DMK is facing. It is also said that there is a contest for the post between the members of the Karunanidhi family. The unsuccessful election campaign led by Stalin gives opportunity on a platter to his brother, Mr.Alagiri who is waiting for his turn to make a return. However sources say that Kanimozhi and Alagiri are in constant touch and Kanimozhi is viewed as a forerunner after the elevation of Udhayanindi Stalin. In fact, Stalin’s move to make Udhayanidhi Stalin the youth wing head of the party was to counter Kanimozhi’s and Alagiri’s rise.
The lone stalwart Duraimuragan seems to be unhappy over Udhayanidhi’s elevation and the equilibrium is now slowly shifting to Kanimozhi. Given the fact that none of the Karunanidhi family had chosen the southern bastion as a political prospect, Kanimozhi chose Thoothukudi and emerged victorious. It was said at that time that Sabareesan wanted her to face defeat so that Stalin’s path to have a zero competitor is assured. However with the induction of Prashant Kishor who is entangled with a discontent from P.T. Palanivel Thiagarajan along with the on-going internal tussle between Udhayanidhi and Kanimozhi, Stalin’s incapability to gain solid momentum on political grounds are adding fuel to fire amongst the top brass of DMK. While the unit looks brighter from outside and given the style of operation by BJP it is a matter of time that DMK shall fall like a pack of cards before the run to the assembly election.
Currently, Duraimurugan is staying at his luxury bungalow in Yelagiri due to the curfew enforced to contain the spread of the virus. He is disappointed as he thought he would soon be declared as the general secretary. Arivalayam sources say that he is also adamant of getting the coveted post and has apparently vowed to his followers that he would that go to any extent to get it.
However, MK Stalin has been busy changing his hairstyle and giving daily statements against the government for the measures it is taking against the pandemic. He is yet to make some time for deciding on the post of who the next general secretary will be. It looks like he hasn’t received orders from the Prashant Kishor or the quad group (Udhayanidhi, Stalin’s son-in-law Sabareesan, Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Mohan Karthik) who currently seem to have a greater hold over the party and its affairs than Stalin himself.
