Coimbatore:
Nearly two months after DMK's extremely poor performance in the Assembly polls, party chief M Karunanidhi put up a brave face today and told his partymen that "all of us are equally to blame" (for the poll debacle). He also asserted that the DMK was a fortress that had withstood even the Emergency.
"This setback is not worse than Emergency," Karunanidhi, whose government was dismissed and his son Stalin put in prison during that period, said.
The DMK patriarch sounded confident that the party would win the next elections.
Mr Karunanidhi was speaking at the crucial meeting of the DMK's executive committee being held in Coimbatore. The meeting is being held to discuss the party's rout in the Assembly polls and decide the future strategy.
With Mr Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and party leader A Raja behind bars, and Dayanidhi Maran forced to quit the union Cabinet over the 2G scam, the DMK will also discuss its alliance with the Congress tomorrow.
DMK leader TR Baalu confirmed this morning that the party will also decide on whether to send replacements for Raja (former Telecom Minister) and Maran (former Textile Minister).
DMK decision makers may also have more to deal with at the Coimbatore meeting - a succession battle within and the disquiet arising from it.
Sources say supporters of Karunanidhi's younger son MK Stalin will seek his elevation to a new post - that of working president which would make Stalin No. 2 in the party. But the camp led by his elder brother Alagiri is gearing up to scuttle the move. Party leader Baalu, however, has dismissed reports of differences between Stalin and Alagiri as "media gossip."
The meeting will also discuss Stalin's proposal to revamp the party set up - seen as a strategy to place his loyalists in key positions. "This will also give opportunity to many younger leaders to take more responsibility," said DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan.
Karunanidhi has been the party president for 42 years now and each time, he has been elected unopposed. DMK's presidential election is due in two years. While Stalin's strategy, sources say, is to mount pressure on Karunanidhi so that he would not contest to continue as party chief, Alagiri, for the moment, wants his father to continue at the helm. In the past, however, he had said that he would contest for party presidentship if there was an election.
"This setback is not worse than Emergency," Karunanidhi, whose government was dismissed and his son Stalin put in prison during that period, said.
The DMK patriarch sounded confident that the party would win the next elections.
Mr Karunanidhi was speaking at the crucial meeting of the DMK's executive committee being held in Coimbatore. The meeting is being held to discuss the party's rout in the Assembly polls and decide the future strategy.
With Mr Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and party leader A Raja behind bars, and Dayanidhi Maran forced to quit the union Cabinet over the 2G scam, the DMK will also discuss its alliance with the Congress tomorrow.
DMK leader TR Baalu confirmed this morning that the party will also decide on whether to send replacements for Raja (former Telecom Minister) and Maran (former Textile Minister).
DMK decision makers may also have more to deal with at the Coimbatore meeting - a succession battle within and the disquiet arising from it.
Sources say supporters of Karunanidhi's younger son MK Stalin will seek his elevation to a new post - that of working president which would make Stalin No. 2 in the party. But the camp led by his elder brother Alagiri is gearing up to scuttle the move. Party leader Baalu, however, has dismissed reports of differences between Stalin and Alagiri as "media gossip."
The meeting will also discuss Stalin's proposal to revamp the party set up - seen as a strategy to place his loyalists in key positions. "This will also give opportunity to many younger leaders to take more responsibility," said DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan.
Karunanidhi has been the party president for 42 years now and each time, he has been elected unopposed. DMK's presidential election is due in two years. While Stalin's strategy, sources say, is to mount pressure on Karunanidhi so that he would not contest to continue as party chief, Alagiri, for the moment, wants his father to continue at the helm. In the past, however, he had said that he would contest for party presidentship if there was an election.
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