Expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri on Thursday continued to remain ambivalent on launching his political party ahead of the crucial 2021 assembly elections. A week after declaring that he will “certainly play” a role in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections due in 2021, he has now said that casting a vote also means participating in the polls.
Speaking to reporters in Madurai on Thursday, the former Union Minister said he was “consulting his supporters” on when to hold consultations with them on his political stand.
“I said my participation is certain. What kind of participation? How did you understand? Launching a party is one way, stitching an alliance is one way, and exercising my franchise is also participating in the elections,” he said when asked about his comments last week that he will play a role in the next elections.
Alagiri, who congratulated Tamil super Rajinikanth last week for his announcement on launching a political party, said in a lighter vein that he will appear alongside the actor in a movie if given a chance. He was asked whether there was a possibility of an alliance with Rajinikanth.
“We are consulting on the consultation process,” he said when asked when he will meet his supporters.
Alagiri’s comments come weeks after reports emerged that he was planning to launch his own political party and align with the BJP to face the 2021 elections. It was also speculated that the former DMK strongman would meet Union Home Minister and BJP’s election strategist Amit Shah when he visited Chennai last month. However, Alagiri had dismissed the speculation as “baseless”.
Alagiri, who was expelled from the DMK in 2014 by none other than his father and party patriarch M Karunanidhi, is attempting a political comeback as elections near. The 69-year-old politician, who once wielded tremendous influence in the DMK in southern districts, has been in political hibernation since 2014.
His attempts to patch-up with his younger brother and DMK President M K Stalin, especially after Karunanidhi’s death in 2018, failed to yield any results.