CHENNAI: Despite DMK president MK Stalin virtually shutting the doors for re-entry of his elder brother and former Union minister MK Alagiri, in the party, the latter’s supporters seem to be not in a mood to give up.
They are to knock the doors of Anna Arivalayam, DMK headquarters, armed with one lakh signatures of party members, on October 1.
The sibling rivalry touched the boiling point in 2014 when Stalin was successful in getting his brother ousted from the party. Several attempts made by Alagiri, since then, to make a comeback proved futile with an obdurate Stalin scuttling his moves.
After the demise of their father and party president M Karunanidhi, on August 7, there was a talk about conciliation between the brothers, mediated by close family members, but it did not materialise as the younger brother was again unwilling to accommodate Alagiri.
To show his strength, the former Union minister announced a peace rally to pay homage to his father in Chennai on September 5. Though he had claimed that one lakh party cadre and supporters would turn up for the event, conservative estimates pegged the figures in the range of 10,000-12,000. There were even whispers that Alagiri would float his own outfit in a few days. Yet, he failed to evoke any response from Stalin. In this context, his supporters have swung into a signature collection drive. They aim is to get the support of one lakh party members in favour of Alagiri.
“We have already begun collecting signatures of party members in a memorandum seeking the president to reinstate our leader. We hope to collect one lakh signatures,” P Mannan, a key face in Alagiri camp, told Express.
He said the memorandum containing the signatures will be handed over to Stalin on October 1.
Meanwhile, the disgruntled leader, on Sunday, said he would highlight the injustice committed to him in the party, instead of canvassing for votes, in case he contests the by-poll to Tiruvarur where from his father Karunanidhi was elected two times.
Addressing a gathering in Tiruvarur, he said party cadre and friends were persuading him to contest the by-election and noted that he was overwhelmed by the turnout of public, who, he said, lined up to meet him.