Chennai: The rays of the DMK`s "Rising Sun" are getting longer. Elections 2009 will see two new stars from the Karunanidhi family.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister`s elder son M K Azhagiri is all set to contest elections from his home town in Madurai. Azhagiri`s daughter Kayalvizhi is also likely to get a Lok Sabha ticket. What remains is a mere formality -- an interview at the DMK headquarters on Thursday.
After calling the shots from the stands for decades, Azhagiri had been recently given a party post.
Karunanidhi`s younger son M K Stalin is the party treasurer and Local Administration Minister. His grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran, the Central Chennai MP and a former Union Minister. And his daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP -- 6 members from the DMK`s first family.
"It is there in every party. Wouldn`t
a doctor want his son to also become a doctor?" asks MK Azhagiri.
Lavanya Krithivasan, a first time voter, says: "We are witnessing dynastic politics especially in TN. We must focus on real merit and aptitude rather than family backing."
The PMK has both party founder Ramadoss and his son Anbumani. The DMDK is run by Vijaykanth and his wife Premalatha. From the AISMK Sarath Kumar and his wife Raadhika will both contest elections.
When it comes to dynastic politics, there`s no place quite like Tamil Nadu!