Alagiri said Stalin would die in three months: M Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: DMK’s first family came across as a split house Tuesday with chief M Karunanidhi revealing that his son MK Alagiri was ousted from the party because he spoke ill of his brother MK Stalin, something that the suspended leader denied.

Wire agencies reported Karunanidhi as saying that Alagiri had some “unknown hatred” against Stalin. “Alagiri even said Stalin would die in three months. No father can tolerate such words against a son. As the party chief, I had to tolerate them.” Sixty-two-year-old Alagari, who was DMK's South Zone secretary and the face of the party in the Madurai region, was suspended on January 25 on charges of breaking party discipline.

He is said to have had numerous showdowns with the party leadership on the issue of succession. Karunanidhi, 90, has given enough indications, including through grant of administrative responsibilities, that his political successor would be Stalin. But a firm decision on this regard has always been elusive, thanks to Alagiri’s opposition.

Alagiri responded to Karunanidhi’s statement hours later in Madurai. Agencies quoted him as saying that, “His tears must roll on my corpse; president (Karunanidhi) should live well; he must live beyond 100 years.” He also poohpoohed the charges against him. “Not even in my dream could I imagine such charges. Anyway, I take it as his greeting for my birthday (on Jan. 30).”

Karunanidhi’s interaction with the media Tuesday came after days of silence following Alagiri’s suspension late last week for what was termed as anti-party activities.

The development came after DMK suspended five of his loyalists. They had put up posters that, in a veiled way, challenged Stalin, the front-runner to succeed his father in the party.

A letter to Alagiri seeking explanation is being sent this week. Any further decision will be made only after that.