The New Year will usher in big changes in the AIADMK and the DMK, the two eternal rivals in Tamil Nadu politics. The General Councils of both the parties are meeting on December 29 and January 4 respectively to elect their supreme leaders. With the passing away of J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK General Secretary on December 5, the party’s most powerful post has become vacant and the General Council convened on Thursday will elect a new leader.
A prominent leader of the AIADMK, who could be termed as one of the founding members of the party, told The Pioneer that Sasikala Natarajan, a close confidante of the late Jayalalithaa for more than three decades, would be elected unanimously as the party’s general secretary. “There is no need of any doubts or controversy over the issue. You need not take into account reports appearing in some sections of the media that there are disagreements over the issue,” said the leader who is described as a concise keeper of late MG Ramachandran, the founder of the party.
He pointed out that the AIADMK had its baptism by fire as it had survived many attempts by the DMK to sabotage the party. “We also experienced a split immediately after the passing away of MGR. But we saw the writing on the wall and were quick to recover from the shock. We learnt a lot from past mistakes and that’s why the party has become stronger,” said the leader.
In a free wheeling discussions, he said the party was capable of meeting any exigencies and emergencies. “The Thursday meeting has been convened to tell the world that the 1.5 crore strong AIADMK is united despite efforts by a section of the media and some political outfits to create an impression that there would be fights in the party,” he said.
To a question on the future of O Panneerselvam as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the leader said there was no uncertainty or doubts over the issue. “It was Chief Minister Panneerselvam who asked Sasikala Natarajan to take over the reigns of the party. He has asked her to do so with the full knowledge that the general secretary was the supreme leader of the AIADMK. That resolves the issue,” he said.
When the AIADMK is in the news, can the DMK be far behindIJ The Dravidian party’s General Council has been convened to anoint MK Stalin as the working president of the party as the incumbent president Muthuvel Karunanidhi is not in the best of health. The 93-year-old Karunanidhi has been sick for some time and is not in a position to interfere in the day-to-day affairs of the party. Hence, his second son Stalin is being elevated as working president though Karunanidhi would continue to be the party president. Karunanidhi, who became the party president in 1969 is looking forward to break the record of late Fidel Casto who was the boss of the Cuban Communist Party for 50 years. The year 2019 will mark Karunanidhi equalling and bettering the world record set by Castro as the year marks 50 years since he took over the mantle of the party when Annadurai died in 1969. Dr Kalaignar, as Karunanidhi prefers to be addressed by the cadre, will turn 96 in 2019.