DMK gears up for Stalin's entry, TMC's exit

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The three-day conference of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam at Salem next week will see a stepped-up counter-attack on the Tamil Maanila Congress, the DMK's alliance partner, besides sending out a clear signal that M K Stalin will be party chief M Karunanidhi's heir-apparent.

The conference, the first to be held after the party came back to power last year, is also expected to witness fresh attacks on the AIADMK headed by former chief minister Jayalalitha Jayaram and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, led by DMK renegade V Gopalaswamy who left the party in protest against Karunanidhi's decision to annoint Stalin as his successor.

''The DMK cadres are upset these days that the TMC behaves more like an Opposition party than an ally,'' said a senior party leader. ''The cadres may publicly express their resentment at Salem and demand that the alliance be ended.''

Enquiries reveal that TMC founder G K Moopanar's ''calculated indifference'' to his partymen's attacks on the DMK administration has also upset Karunanidhi. Though he mentally prepares for a break in the alliance in the near future, Karunanidhi's associates said he will not take any initiative or blame for the same, as has been the tradition all these years.

''If they want to leave, let them leave. But if they want the alliance to continue, they must come out with the details instead of making wild charges against the government,'' Karunanidhi seems to have expressed his anguish. ''Such charges coming from a formal ally of the ruling party could do more damage than those aired by the official Opposition.''

The chief minister is convinced that the TMC is planning to break the alliance, despite the explanations to the contrary offered by Moopanar.

As the DMK-TMC war escalates, one significant aspect has gone almost unnoticed: Karunanidhi's decision to go ahead with the traditional state conference without completing the organisational poll. Even the election for the district-level posts will be held after the conference. ''Normally, the party elections at all levels are completed before the conference,'' said the leader.

Indications are that Karunanidhi, after his election as party president after the Salem meet, would appoint Stalin to an organisational post. As of now, Stalin is in charge of the DMK's youth wing, and the inaugural day at the Salem conference is being dedicated to the youth wing. ''That's when the ball will be set in motion for Stalin's future induction,'' said the leader.

Unlike the Congress or the AIADMK, the DMK is run on the principle of letting every man have his say, but reserving the rights of decision-making with the supremo. ''That being the case, hinting at what is expected of the speakers will do the trick,'' the source added.