Udhayanidhi's 'untimely' elevation as deputy CM may be used against the party, for critics to argue that the DMK's 'first family's is not concerned about anything else but their clan's welfare. If packaged and delivered properly, some of the sting may stick at election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
He was a nine-time MLA, one-time Lok Sabha member and former finance minister of Tamil Nadu and a close friend of former Chief Minister late Karunanidhi.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the replies of the Tamil Nadu government and state Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's estranged aide V K Sasikala to a plea by Dravida Munetra Kazhagam leader, seeking his impleadment in a case against the two for allegedly owning assets exceeding their legal incomes.
Besides Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who won from his native Tiruvarur by a huge margin of over 50,000 votes, other ministers who saved the embarrassment to DMK are his son M K Stalin (Kolathur), Durai Murugan (Katpadi), I Periyasamy (Athoor) E V Velu (Tiruvannamalai), Thangam Thennarasu (Tiruchuli), T P M Mohideen Khan (Palayamkottai) Suba Thangavelan (Tiruvadanai) and K Ramachandran (Coonoor).
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi was admitted to a private hospital on Friday due to back problem, a release said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was on Saturday unanimously elected as DMK president at the party's general council meeting in Chennai. He has been elected for the 10th consecutive term. When Stalin's name was announced, the general council members gave a standing ovation.
The comments gave a false picture to the public that a government could not be questioned or found fault with whatever it did, the petition said.
Leader of the House K Anbazhagan moved the resolution seeking to suspend A K Bose who represents Thiruparakundram constituency for Thursday's incident in the House.
The party did not formally assign any reason for relieving him from the position.
The special court in Bangalore adjourned on Wenesday, the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case hearing against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to August 26 in the wake of the Supreme Court order staying the joint trial.
Barring a minor incident when some supporters of the dead leader booed DMK's youth wing leader M K Stalin, the funeral procession passed off peacefully.
Following is the course of events in the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, Sasikala and 2 others.
The apex court also allowed the plea of the Karnataka high court registry.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son and Treasurer M K Stalin is among the five persons named by the party to hold seat-sharing talks with alliance parties for the coming parliamentary elections.
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader M K Stalin on Sunday rubbished reports that he has offered to quit as party's treasurer after not being allowed to contest for the post of general secretary and said he only aspired to retain the post.
The internal feud in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam intensified on Thursday with the high command ordering suspension of five loyalists of M K Alagiri, elder son of party chief M Karunanidhi, over recurring instances of "mischievous posters" in Madurai.
The estranged elder brother of Stalin said neither he nor his son Durai Dayanidhi yearned for any position in the party.
The front-runner of course is party treasurer and long-serving party legislator, S Duraimurugan. A Vanniar by caste from the rival PMK-strong northern belt, Duraimurugan makes up for his weak political grounding through his debating skills in the assembly, and witty repartee, both inside and outside. Apart from caste and regional representation, personal loyalty to the leader would count even more -- but there is no death of loyal and competent candidates in the party for the post, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The party unanimously elected veteran Duraimurugan as general secretary and senior leader T R Baalu as treasurer. Former Telecom Minister A Raja and seasoned party leader K Ponmudi were elected as deputy general secretaries.
A day after a senior leader submitted his resignation from the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam demanding that M K Stalin be declared the chief ministerial candidate for the 2016 assembly polls, the M Karunanidhi-led party on Thursday accused him of indiscipline and suspended him from all posts.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, convicted on Saturday by a Bangalore special court in a disproportionate assets case, had fought more than a dozen cases and was acquitted in most of them.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Wednesday warned that members who continue to maintain links with suspended leader M K Alagiri will face disciplinary action.
Former Union Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M K Alagiri was on Friday suspended from the party headed by his father M Karunanidhi on charges of going against the party's stand and airing divergent views on the issue of stitching an alliance with Vijaykant's Desiya Morpukku Dravida Kazhagam.
The SC on Monday sought responses from former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa seeking removal of public prosecutor.
Udhayanidhi's ascension in the party is seen as a precursor to him being given key roles in the DMK in future which is now helmed by his 66-year old father Stalin.
Sibling rivalry in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam came to the fore for yet another time on Saturday, with the party high command dissolving a Madurai unit and replacing it with a temporary body dominated by supporters of its Treasurer M K Stalin.
'With the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, the BJP and Congress thought that they had a chance.' 'They have conceded that power is with the Dravidian parties.'
The 65-year-old leader's ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.
Dravida Munnetra Kazahagam on Monday said it has decided to file an appeal against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's acquittal in a wealth case by the Karnataka high court.
DMK General Secretary's sought removal of the PP alleging he has not been impartial.
Stung by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam move to suspend him, former Union Minister M K Alagiri on Saturday charged that democracy was dead in the party and questioned why no action was taken against his younger brother M K Stalin's supporters for pasting posters hailing him as future party president.
With the acquittal of arch rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Jayalalithaa coming as a reversal for it, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam top brass on Monday went into a huddle to work on a political and legal strategy following the development.
MK Stalin's ruling AIDMK rival does not thankfully face such problems as he did, but its problems could be worse if saner counsel does not prevail between now and the assembly polls, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dinakaran, who was expelled from the AIADMK in 2011, was re-inducted into the party last month by Sasikala after he expressed regret for his alleged anti-party activities.
Karunanidhi made the announcement in his concluding remarks at the meeting of the party's key decision-making body, the general council, on Sunday to rapturous applause from members, reflecting the anti-Congress mood in the party ranks.
Stalin said the DMK was a movement that protected women's rights and Radharavi's comments were not acceptable to it.
Making light of M K Alagiri's remarks on his "death", Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Treasurer M K Stalin on Wednesday asked party men not to burn effigies of his "elder brother", saying party discipline was supreme.
Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on a Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's leader's plea seeking removal of a public prosecutor from representing state in the Karnataka high court, which recently reserved verdict on an appeal of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case.
The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi.
The Supreme Court on Monday held that Tamil Nadu government has no right to appoint advocate Bhawani Singh as special public prosecutor to appear in Karnataka High Court for J Jayalalithaa's disproportionate assets case.
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