Chennai : Days after his supporters were sidelined in the distribution of party tickets for the 2014 Lok Sabha election suspended DMK leader M K Alagiri on Thursday put the media’s focus back on him by calling on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, while his party has snapped ties with the Congress.
Alagiri, the disgruntled son of DMK president M Karunanidhi, who was the party’s south zone organising secretary and had enjoyed political clout in Madurai until he was suspended for anti-party activities, had recently criticised the DMK leadership for giving tickets to some rank outsiders including industrialists who had joined the party less than a fortnight ago. The ruffled southern satrap was mulling launching a political party, but on Thursday said his supporters wished that the continued in the DMK. By calling on Singh, he appeared to throw hints that he could back the Congress, which is set to plough a lonely furrow, in southern districts. However, on record he said that it was a mere ‘courtesy call’ to (belatedly) thank the PM for having given him an opportunity to serve in his Union Cabinet.