"Stalin is the future of the party," said late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi about six years ago at a party meet when his son was party treasurer.
Vijayakanth was unwell for quite some time and his wife Premalatha took over the reins of the party days ago.
Natarajan was admitted to the hospital on Saturday with severe chest infection and was put on ventilator support.
According to our Delhi correspondent, following the fallout with the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, Congress president Sonia Gandhi told outgoing Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri that she was taken by surprise after the DMK withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance chairperson.
Blowing hot and cold, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday extended an olive branch to the Congress offering to "forgive" and support it after the elections.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday warned of action against party MPs if they are found to have addressed a letter to US President Barack Obama against issuing of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in an earlier AIADMK government.
The Congress on Wednesday began the consultation process with its allies on the issue of next President with party chief Sonia Gandhi holding deliberations with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on the issue.
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
After the resignation of all Dravida Munetra Kazhagam ministers from the government, the party on Wednesday said pulling down the United Progressive Alliance dispensation by bringing no-trust motion in the house is not the issue, but welfare of Tamils is their focus.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday night withdrew its support to the United Progressive Alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and ruled out any reconsideration, a move that makes the government vulnerable despite its assertions of having a Parliamentary majority.
Known for his organisational skills, Union Minister and party's strongman M K Alagiri shies away from open electioneering. But he is always on the move, crisscrossing southern Tamil Nadu giving 'pep talks' to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadre
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
Rahul Gandhi visited ailing DMK chief M Karunanidhi at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.
"Some are creating an impression that Rajinikanth is to launch a party at the instigation of people who intend to decimate the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. "Let me tell you, this is the land of Periyar (Dravidar Kazhagam founder E V Ramasamy Naicker), Anna (C N Annadurai) and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi)... such efforts in the past have ended in a fiasco," Stalin said.
Asked whether his party would support any decision taken by the Congress, Karunanidhi said: "Oh yes."
The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K V Thangkabalu signed the agreement, hammered out after hard bargaining by both sides for about a fortnight
Two days after snapping ties with the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu on Friday said it was prepared to revive the same if the leadership of that party expressed regret for the 'vituperative' speeches by PMK leader J Guru against DMK leaders and take action against him.
A party delegation, including BJP state unit president L Ganesan and party national secretary S Thirunavukkarasar, MP, submitted a memorandum to the governor at Raj Bhavan in Chennai.
In the complaint filed at the Parliament Street police station, she demanded action against Law Minister H R Bharadwaj, Culture Minister Ambika Soni and Shipping Minister T R Baalu.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Friday appealed to Congress President Sonia Gandhi to intervene and save the lives of three death row convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying appeals by Tamils across the world needed to be considered in the spirit of "forget and forgive".
Should Kanimozhi be spared from imprisonment in the 2G spectrum scam because she is a woman, as Sonia Gandhi implied on Tuesday? Sheela Bhatt presents the counter-argument
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
Taking a swipe at DMK president's statement that the party would take steps to implement prohibition if voted to power in the next elections, AIADMK said it was done with an eye on polls.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi on Sunday said she and her party would together face the 2G spectrum case with the "right approach" and hoped she would prove her innocence.
The attack comes a day after senior DMK leader and state Electricity Minister N Veerasamy took strong exception to the reported 'fatwa' by Vedanti for beheading Karunanidhi.
Indicating that India was in "safe hands" with the BJP, he said "You can protect the country if you accept the BJP's ideology."
The Congress secured the maximum of 48 seats.
DPA front leaders to meet on February 8
Amid speculation that she will succeed A Raja as Telecom Minister, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi said a decision on the issue will be taken by party president M Karunanidhi, even as she made it clear that the alliance with Congress is "as strong as ever".
Reservation would be provided to both Muslims and Christians and even if the DMK-led DPA did not come to power, it would fight for minority rights, Karunanidhi said.
While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has made his national ambitions amply clear, even rechristening his party to aid the process, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin insists he is already in the national scene and used his birthday rally on March 1 to not only strongly pitch for the Congress as a force to reckon with in the efforts to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre, but also sought to shoot down the prospects of a Third Front.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's first youth conference began in Tirunelveli, south Tamil Nadu on Saturday. Lakhs of their cadres from all over the state descended on this small town and created havoc.
Unhappy over the portfolios allotted to its ministers, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has decided not to assume office till 'the mistakes are rectified'.
The party has brought in three new faces, including Dayanidhi Maran, son of Murasoli Maran, and the widow of a backward Nadar community leader.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi on Tuesday chose to keep the cards close to his chest on the issue of which political outfit his party would strike an alliance to fight next year's Lok Sabha polls.
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