Ahead of the impending full-fledged Cabinet expansion at the Centre, differences seem to have cropped up in the DMK’s first family with party supremo M. Karunanidhi not in favour of availing the two vacant Cabinet berths that rightfully belong to the DMK and heir-apparent M.K. Stalin keen on rewarding his loyalists with ministerial positions.
The vacancies were caused by the resignation of A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran.
According to sources, DMK chief is worried that in the event of his legislators not performing up to the mark, its impact might be felt in the 2014 General Elections which is less than two years away. Also, he believes that there isn’t anybody among the present lot who has the stature to be a Cabinet minister, sources said. But Mr Stalin, on the other hand, feels that the party should lay claim to its Cabinet positions. He also prefers to have four minister of state (MoS) berths in the place of two Cabinet rank positions, sources added.
DMK MPs too have started lobbying for a berth in the Cabinet.
The names of Tiruchi Siva, T.K.S. Elangovan and A.K.S. Vijayan are doing the rounds for MoS positions, should the party decide to increase its representation in the Union Cabinet.
DMK has 18 Lok Sabha MPs and seven Rajya Sabha MPs.
Currently, M.K. Alagiri is the only Cabinet rank minister holding the chemicals and fertiliser portfolio. There are four MoS, namely Palanimanickam, Jagathratchagan, D. Napoleon and Gandhi Selvan in the ministries of finance, information and broadcasting, social justice and empowerment and health respectively. But, incidentally all five are considered to be non-performers by the Congress and this has boosted the confidence of the party MPs, who believe that their boss may go for a complete overhaul by dropping the four current ministers of state and inducting fresh faces in their place keeping the 2014 elections in mind.