Chennai, March 22 (IANS) It seems to be all in the family as far as the Congress and the DMK are concerned in Tamil Nadu, which could also be now called the 'land of rising sons'.
With poll pundits predicting a washout for the Congress in Tamil Nadu in the general elections, some senior party leaders and sitting Lok Sabha members have decided to sit out this time around. However, their wards got the party tickets to contest from their own constituencies.
The Congress party Thursday released the first list of contestants from Tamil Nadu containing the wards of notable party leaders.
Putting an end to the speculation union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has opted out of the poll fray from the Sivaganga constituency. In fact a case challenging his election in the 2009 polls is pending in the court.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a recent public meeting mocked at Chidambaram, calling him "recounting minister".
His son Karti P. Chidambaram has been given the party ticket to contest from Sivaganga.
Sitting MP M. Krishnaswamy will sit out while his son M.K.Vishnu Prasad has been given the ticket to contest from the Arani constituency.
Interestingly Krishnaswamy's daughter is married to PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, who will contest from Dharmapuri.
"The party is passing through a critical phase in the state. The senior leaders should fight from the front," a senior Congressman told IANS preferring anonymity.
According to him, there is also a possibility of the Congress picking up a couple of seats due to fragmentation of votes.
"Senior leader E.V.K.S.Elangovan may even win the Tirupur seat. He has his own share of votes," he added.
Be that as it may, other than PMK's Anbumani Ramadoss, son of party founder S.Ramadoss, it is only in the DMK that the rise of sons and daughter power is notable.
A stiff power struggle is on between M.K. Stalin and his elder brother M.K. Alagiri with party president and their father M.Karunanidhi siding with the former.
On Jan 24, the DMK suspended Alagiri, 63, for opposing his brother M.K. Stalin, 61, who is tipped for the party's top post.
Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi is now a Rajya Sabha member.
Founded in 1949 by C.N. Annadurai, the DMK is one of the oldest parties in India. The party came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967 - 18 years after it was formed. Annadurai was the party's first chief minister.
In 1969, Annadurai died and was succeeded by Karunanidhi with the support of Tamil movie hero M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) - then with the DMK - and other leaders and members of the legislative assembly.
In 1972, MGR was expelled after differences with Karunanidhi. Following his expulsion, MGR floated the AIADMK and later captured power in 1977. The DMK was out of power till 1988, but returned in 1989.
Karunanidhi brought the party under his thumb and started projecting his son M.K. Stalin. The party underwent another split when Vaiko was sent out. Vaiko later floated his MDMK party.
Coronavirus Updates: Relief in Corona cases! 4858 new cases in 24 hours; 18 people died
There has been a big decline in the cases of Coronavirus in India. In the last 24 hours, 4,858 ca
HC directs seizure of Chinese string
Chandigarh, Jan 20 (IANS) With recent incidents of people being killed or getting seriously inj
Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli are one of Bollywood's favorite couples. Fans like their pairing,
Swine flu on the rise in Kolkata, 22 test positive
Kolkata, Feb 13 (IANS) Swine flu, which has claimed two lives in Kolkata so far, is on the rise
Jindal moves poll panel against news channels
New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) Congress MP Naveen Jindal, who is seeking re-election from Kurukshet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Greece on a one-day visit after the BRICS summit. Signif
'Two Women' and More: A diva's remarkable story (Book Review)
Title: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life ; Author: Sophia Loren; Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Plumes of smoke have started rising once again from the Bhalswa landfill site in Delhi. Strong fl
Rally for road safety among women held in Delhi
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) A rally to promote road safety awareness among women was organised he
New Delhi, March 29 (IANS) It was a partly cloudy morning on Sunday in the national capital wit
