The Azhagiri factor could turn out to be the DMK’s eternal nemesis as the internal feud in the family of the party president came out again within hours of the announcement of names of the candidates for the November 19 Assembly polls from the State. Friday saw the DMK announcing the names of the party candidates after it was told by alliance partners Congress, Muslim league and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (an Islamic extremist outfit) that they would support the DMK candidates in the election.
While the DMK’s decision to field KC Palanisamy, a billionaire businessman and Anjugam Boopathy, a medical doctor as candidates from Aravakurichi and Thanjavur has been accepted by the party cadre, the move by the party leadership to nominate P Saravanan, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur from Thiruparankundram has earned it the wrath of MK Azhagiri, the estranged son of party president M Karunanidhi. The Madurai district unit of the DMK too had expressed reservations about the candidature of Saravanan, a party hopper who joined the DMK only recently.