Varsha Sriram
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which emerged as the third largest party in the country winning 23 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday, elected former Union Minister and DMK Principal Secretary T.R Baalu as the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.
Two days after the DMK-Congress alliance swept the Lok Sabha elections winning 37 out of 38 seats in Tamil Nadu and a lone seat in Puducherry, the DMK organised a parliamentary party meeting attended by the newly elected MPs and senior party leaders at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters in Chennai.
At the meeting chaired by DMK President M.K Stalin, the party also appointed Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi as the deputy leader of the party in the parliament. The daughter of late patriarch M Karunanidhi, Kanimozhi, who is also the Women’s Wing Secretary of the DMK is entering the Lok Sabha as an MP for the first time after defeating BJP State Chief Tamilisai Soundarajan in Thoothukudi. Kanimozhi is set to complete her term in the Rajya Sabha in June.
The party also elected former Telecom Minister A Raja as the party’s Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha. Thanjavur Lok Sabha MP SS Palanimanickam was chosen to serve as the treasurer of the party in the Lok Sabha.
DMK MP Trichy Siva was elected as the parliamentary party leader of the Rajya Sabha and senior leader TKS Elangovan as its Deputy Leader. It is said that during the one-hour-long meeting, the party also decided the strategy for the first session of the Lok Sabha.
Stalin writes letter to the cadres
Thanking the party cadres on Saturday, DMK president M K Stalin said that no single state can be ignored by the government at the Centre and asserted that India was not Hindi speaking states alone.
“Gone are the days when it was believed that only Hindi-speaking states make India. Now it is time for constructive politics, with a central focus on the states. Whichever party comes to power at the Centre, it cannot neglect the states. It is time to support and embrace all kinds of races,” the letter said. Stalin also said that his party would take steps to bring together secular forces in order to implement the Tamil Nadu strategy in other states as well.
According to The Hindu, the letter said, “The DMK will raise its voice in the Assembly and in the Parliament for the welfare of the people. We will also work in tandem with alliance partners to keep vigil against the rise of divine forces. We will work to protect the interests of the State and to retrieve the rights that have been taken from us. The DMK will also evolve a strategy to co-ordinate with secular forces in other states.”
Earlier in the day, Stalin, Kanimozhi, Dayanidhi Maran, and T.R Baalu lead a victory march in Marina along with MPs and MLAs of the party and paid their respects to former Chief Ministers Anna and Karunanidhi. They had also visited the Periyar Memorial in Veppery.
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