Alagiri rolls Raja dice, Karuna unfazed
There were persistent rumours on Wednesday that Union minister M.K. Alagiri had sent his resignation to AICC president Sonia Gandhi and that the Madurai strongman appeared to be increasing pressure on his father, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, to strip former communications and IT minister A. Raja of his post of party propaganda secretary and act against MP Kanimozhi and Tamil Nadu IT minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna.
However, DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu on Wednesday denied that Mr Alagiri had resigned as Union chemicals minister. Reacting to some media reports that he had delivered the resignation letter when he called on AICC chief Sonia Gandhi in the morning, Mr Baalu said he had only conveyed his leader Karunanidhi’s New Year greetings to the UPA chairperson.
“The TV channels are beaming mere rumours,” Mr Baalu told this newspaper. “Our relations with the Congress are very good. The leaders of the two parties will propel the alliance to victory in the coming state elections.” He was present during the talks between Mr Karunanidhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Raj Bhavan here on Monday.
Rumours about Mr Alagiri’s resignation were inspired by his recent conduct, which clearly indicated that the DMK’s Madurai strongman was upset with Mr Karunanidhi. He skipped the protocol reception for the Prime Minister on Sunday and an important DMK meeting the following day.
It was said that he wanted his father to take action against Mr A. Raja, his MP sister Kanimozhi, and her close friend Poongothai, the state IT minister who was heard deriding him on the Radia tapes. Mr Alagiri also wanted the state government to dissociate itself from the Chennai Sangamam cultural festival being organised by Thamil Maiyam, in which Kanimozhi is a director.
DMK sources said Mr Alagiri had raised demands that would be impossible for his father to meet only in the hope that he would be able to secure, as a compromise, some additional seats for his nominees in the coming state elections.
However, Mr Karunanidhi appeared calm and composed as he went about his engagements, which included sharing the dais with Ms Kanimozhi at a government function to launch skill development training for the unemployed. The chief minister praised his daughter for finding jobs for over 1.33 lakh youth through job melas she held across the state. He also wished her to continue the “good job”.
Sources close to Mr Alagiri say he will express his anger publicly in the next couple of weeks if the leadership does not take damage-control steps.
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