STALIN Unanimously Elected DMK President: DMK Demands Bharat Ratna Award To Karunanidhi
M K Stalin is now officially recognised as the chief of the DMK after his election on Tuesday .He will head the organisation after the demise of M Karunanidhi on August 7 after prolonged illness aged 94 in a Chennai hospital .During his illness, Stalin, 65,Karunanidhi’s second son, was functioning as working President . After years of being second in command, the leader now holds reins of the party. Stalin’s elevation comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is witnessing a political churn, following the death of J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections around the corner and two significant by polls coming up, Stalin has an arduous task ahead. His elder brother M K Alagiri, who has been sidelined and shunted out of Chennai, has warned of consequences if he not readmitted in the party posing a challenge to Stalin. Duraimurugan, party’s Principal Secretary, has taken over the position of treasurer. Stalin is the third president of the party, after C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi. The post was held by Karunanidhi for about 9 years Karunanidhi was former Chief Minister of the Southern state.DMK General Secretary K.Anbazhagan said that 1,307 party officials seconded Stalin’s candidature. Senior leader Duraimurugan was also elected unopposed as the party’s Treasurer. The General Council, before announcing the news, condoled the deaths of Karunanidhi, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, party cadres who die of shock after hearing of Karunanidhi’s death, the anti-Sterlite copper smelter plant protesters who were killed in the police firing in Tuticorin in May and also the victims of the floods in Kerala. The DMK’s General Council meeting attended by about 4,000 members has now passed a resolution urging the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna to M Karunanidhi. The party has also decided against creating a post of DMK chairperson.
