Chennai: “The switching over of Senthil Balaji from the AMMK to DMK was just like the first look of a film. Tamilnadu political arena should brace itself for the second look, teaser, single, audio launch and trailer before the release of the film being bankrolled and directed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. It will be a true political thriller,” say sources who are aware of recent developments in the M K Stalin-led party.
“Stalin is all for gentleman politics. But his critics take this for granted and dub him as inefficient. Senthil Balaji joining the DMK has proved them wrong and more action-filled episodes will unfold in the days to come,” they add.
If the sources are to be believed, prominent faces from more parties, including T T V Dhinakaran’s AMMK, would shift loyalties to the DMK and talks are already under way. “There will be some surprises, and there will be some shocks too,” they add. But the sources are quick to claim that the DMK is not poaching anyone unethically. “If we were ready for that, the AIADMK would have lost power long back,” they claim.
The DMK, inner circles say, is gearing up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in a big way and Stalin’s recent visit to New Delhi was “fruitful”. “Tomorrow, the unveiling of Kalaignar (former chief minister M Karunanidhi) statue in Chennai, which will see the coming together of national leaders, will further cement the ties of the DMK with Congress and other parties,” they add.
On Friday, Balaji joined the DMK in the presence of Stalin at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, here, and trained guns on the ruling AIADMK.
The Karur strongman called AIADMK a ‘sinking ship’ but avoided any strong criticism of Dhinakaran.
Balaji’s defection assumes significance as it comes amid reports that Dhinakaran is finding it hard to keep his flock together in the backdrop of the 25 October Madras High Court verdict upholding Tamilnadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal’s order disqualifying 18 AIADMK MLAs.
Sources claim that not all disqualified MLAs are happy with Dhinakaran’s decision to not to appeal against the court order upholding their disqualification.