The ambience in front of the Gopalapuram residence of M Karunanidhi, the 94-year-old DMK president on Thursday morning resembled that of a major electoral victory which has been eluding the party since 2011.
Hundreds of party cadre from all over the State had gathered at Gopalapuram along the Radhakrishnan Road with party flags and posters of MK Stalin and Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi’s children by this second and third wives respectively.
With the TV channels flashing the news that Kanimozhi and former Union Minister A Raja have been acquitted in the 2G Spectrum case by the CBI Special Court in New Delhi, a sense of ecstasy broke out in the crowd and they started shouting slogans hailing Dr Kalaignar (as Karunanidhi prefers to be addressed), Thalapathy (Tamil for commander, a term used by the DMK cadre to address Stalin) and Kanimozhi.
Stalin had started the celebrations in Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters by distributing sweets and addressing the media. “This is a historic judgment on a case foisted to destroy the DMK. The case was registered in 2009 in a bid to insult and destroy the DMK. The case was also blown out of proportion. I am happy that all the accused have been acquitted in the case,” Stalin said while addressing the media.