Amid the ongoing turf war between the siblings of the DMK’s first family over supremacy in the party, the DMK’s Madurai rural district unit has invited both the brothers — DMK treasurer M K Stalin and south zone organising secretary M K Alagiri — for the DMK Chief M Karunanidhi’s 90th birthday celebration and election fund-raising programme to be held on June 5 here.
Though the DMK rural unit district secretary, P Moorthy, expressed hope that both the brothers would participate in the celebration, a close aide of Alagiri said, ”Anjanenjan (Alagiri) will participate only in functions attended by the DMK chief M Karunanidhi.”
As the party headquarters gave green signal to Moorthy to organise the function, former Union Minister Alagiri did not interfere with the celebration. Instead, when Moorthy, who is also a close associate of Alagiri, sought his patronage, Alagiri asked him to make the arrangements for the celebration. However, he did not give any assurance about his participation, the aide said.
Now, the DMK rural district unit is pulling out all stops to organise the event, making it appear as if both the brothers would participate. The invitations printed for the event bore pictures of both the brothers. The venue, Iyer Bangalow, has been decked up with banners carrying pictures of Alagiri and Stalin together.
“It was in the same venue that both the brothers shared the dais during Alagiri’s birthday in 2009. So, we hope they would unite again here,” said an organiser.
A senior party functionary, however, gave a political twist to the celebration. “This function will only strengthen the base of Stalin in Madurai region,” he said.