MK Stalin elected DMK president, Duraimurugan treasurer

Chennai (Tamil Nadu): The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) general council elected M K Stalin as the party president here on Tuesday.

"As no one else filed nomination, Mr. Stalin is elected for the post," said party general secretary K. Anbazhagan.

Meanwhile, principal secretary Duraimurugan was appointed as the new treasurer of the party.

A total of 1907 party leaders and workers had either proposed or seconded Stalin's name for the post. Duraimurugan garnered support of 252 persons.

Stalin had filed his nomination papers on Sunday. He was appointed 'working president' of the party in 2017.

This elevation comes at a time when expelled party leader and Karunanidhi's elder son, MK Alagiri, claimed that the loyal supporters of his father are behind him.

Alagiri, who was expelled by the former party president Karunanidhi in 2014 for slanderous attacks on senior members of the organization and carrying out anti-party activities, had stirred a war of succession by dubbing Stalin's leadership as ineffective.

During the meeting, two minutes of silence was observed for those who died during Kerala floods and Thoothukudi protest.

A compensation of Rs 2 lakh was announced for the kin of the 248 people who died due to shock after hearing the news of Karunanidhi's demise on August 7.

During the meeting, DMK supporters also urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to posthumously confer Bharat Ratna to Karunanidhi.