CHENNAI: The DMK will kick start its initiative of mass contact and mobilising support, with the birthday celebrations of MK Stalin from February 28 and an executive committee meeting on March 5.
The party is gearing up for the grand celebrations of Stalin, the heir apparent and party treasurer, with the patriarch M Karunanidhi distributing welfare assistance including refrigerators, induction stove, travel bags, wet grinders, sewing machines, iron press and hot packs to mark the occasion.
The DMK chief will address a public meeting on February 28 on the eve of Stalin’s birthday and distribute the welfare assistance, party functionaries said.
With reports of Stalin meeting BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan privately at Coimbatore appearing in a section of Tamil media, Karunanidhi’s speech at the public meeting and the party’s resolutions in the executive committee meeting are expected to throw light on the party’s stand on the BJP. The DMK leader’s speech is likely to give a clue on the party’s line of thinking.
Karunanidhi made a scathing attack on the BJP in the party’s general council meeting which elected him as the leader. Various frontal organisations of the party including its fishermen, students’ and advocates’ wings have passed resolutions highly critical of the the BJP government.
The party functionaries would hoist DMK flags and conduct sports competitions, besides organising annadhanam and blood donation programmes. The party’s Pallavaram town unit would gift gold rings to all babies born on that day at the Chromepet government hospital.
The birthday celebrations would be a launchpad for the DMK’s mass mobilisation as it was engaged with organisational matters for more than a year, conducting internal party elections from the grassroots level to the top positions. Then came the Srirangam bypoll in which it had salvaged its prestige by retaining its votes share.
Immediately after the birthday celebrations, the DMK executive would meet on March 5 to discuss measures to strengthen and expand its support base further. The party is expected to identify issues with which it could carry out the propaganda war against the AIADMK government.
Karunanidhi’s speech on the eve of Stalin’s birthday and the resolutions of the executive on March 5 would indicate the party’s stand on various issues and its alliance strategy.