Chennai:
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa had thrown an open challenge to the DMK and its leader Alagiri by organising a massive rally on his home base in Madurai on Monday. Today, the DMK hit back.
"I just assume a dog is barking at the sun," DMK leader and Union Chemicals & Fertilisers Minister Alagiri said.
Madurai had been an AIADMK heartland for over two decades, politically nurtured by amma's mentor MG Ramachandran. The party lost control over the temple town as Alagiri turned to active politics in 2006.
"Is Madurai a private property of Alagiri and his father?" roared Jayalalithaa.
For the 2011 Assembly elections, Jayalalithaa has made Madurai a win-back mission.
And the rivalry is scorching the political mood.
During the rally, 2,000 policemen guarded amma against an alleged death threat from the DMK.
"I pity her. She reads the speech given to her blindly without verifying facts," Alagiri said.
With Assembly polls just seven months away, the political temperature between the Dravidian archrivals is soaring and the battle is getting personal and murkier.