Stalin camp takes nearly 75%, Alagiri gets most of the remaining

CHENNAI: The succession war in the DMK first family may have been pushed under the carpet for now. But DMK president M Karunanidhi's two sons, M K Stalin and M K Alagiri, have clearly charted their territory. In the ensuing assembly elections, deputy chief minister and DMK heir apparent Stalin took nearly 75% of the 119 seats the party is contesting, signalling his dominance in the DMK dispensation. His older brother and DMK's south zone organising secretary Alagiri took a good portion of the remaining 25% for his supporters.

Meanwhile, Karunanidhi, who was to release names of the candidates on Wednesday evening, quietly slipped out of town, accompanied by a few senior leaders, and headed for his now favourite Mahabalipuram resort to give finishing touches to the list. Under tremendous pressure from various factions within his family and the party, the DMK supremo preferred to leave town and work quietly in the scenic sea-shore retreat. Sources said a couple of seats each were allotted to supporters of Karunanidhi's daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi and his grand nephew and Union minister Dayanidhi Maran.

While Stalin's wish list includes seats mostly in the northern, central and western pockets, Alagiri has focussed on his south bastion, with a couple of seats in the central region. But Stalin, who also spread his wings to some parts of the southern districts, sought seats in Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Kanyakumari districts. While the Thevar-dominated southern districts were for long perceived to be an AIADMK bastion, the DMK made significant inroads here in the 2006 assembly elections as well as in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Alagiri was considered the key factor in the DMK's successes in the southern belt.

Some district-level functionaries are said to be upset with the seat apportioning and are pressurising the leadership to redraft the list. Sources in the DMK said north Chennai district secretary and sitting MLA VS Babu and his supporters were upset about party general secretary K Anbazhakan and Stalin being allotted Villivakkam and Kolathur respectively. Karunanidhi also conceded three constituencies in North Chennai district to his allies. Now Babu, who had earlier won from Purasawalkam, is left without a North Chennai constituency for himself.

Stalin wrested the Chepauk constituency for his supporter and south Chennai district secretary J Anbazhagan. Interestingly, two zonal secretaries of Chepauk have proposed Karunanidhi's younger son M K Tamilarasu, a businessman who has kept out of politics until now. Tamilarasu, however, told TOI, "I have no such plans."

Alagiri has expanded his southern base, getting more seats this time for his supporters compared to the earlier elections. Out of the 58 constituencies in the south, Alagiri has managed to get 25 seats for his loyalists. While DMK will contest 36 constituencies in the south, it allotted 19 to Congress and three to PMK. Stalin followers may get about 10 seats in this region, with one seat for Kanimozhi's friend and minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna. Alagiri got two more seats for his men in central Tamil Nadu.