Karunanidhi Asks Partymen to Wait till June for his Retirement Plan
Ending speculations about his retirement from politics, Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi has asked his party members and supporters to wait till June to learn about his retirement plan.
“Please be patient till the World Tamil conference in June. There’s a long time. I will consider both views among cadres – to continue as Chief Minister or to pass the mantle to M K Stalin,” he said.
The intense speculation about his retirement began after he, in a speech over the weekend, announced that after the Tamil meet he would get even more closer to people leaving aside politics and the ministerial positions.
His party instantly swung into damage control-mode.
“It’s his personal opinion. We have not discussed this at any quarter,” says K Anbazhagan, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister.
Analysts say that this could be Karunanidhi’s strategy to install his son Stalin as chief minister before the 2011 elections in Tamil Nadu.
Karunanidhi’s elder son, M K Alagiri, is a minister at the Centre. Promoting Stalin to chief minister could also be Karunanidhi’s way of ending the bitter sibling rivalry among his children.
