Chennai sources stated that MK Alagiri had led a rally of supporters to pay homage to his father Karunanidhi at his resting place on the Marina. Meanwhile the 'mammoth' show of strength turned out to be a damp squib as the turnout fell far short of the promised one lakh followers and the rally only ended up showing on the TV screens the mercurial mood swings of the Madurai 'challenger' as he angrily pushed his men off him during the procession and snapped at reporters when they flung a couple of hurried questions at its close.
Meanwhile one of those questions was about the DMK leadership suspending 'Indiranagar' Ravi from the party after he turned up for his (Alagiri) airport reception when he arrived from his hometown Madurai on Monday. Alagiri said “There were 1.5 lakh people in his rally and he questioned will they expel them all (from the DMK)?” thereby making two tall claims that there were 1.5 lakh people in the rally, and, all those at Marina were DMK members flaunting their loyalty to him.
A DMK senior said “It’s just you, the media, who are excited about
Alagiri, his pronouncements and now this rally. We did not feel even a tiny
ripple of a pebble dropping”. Moreover he requested anonymity “because Thalapathi
(Stalin) has advised them against speaking about Alagiri, who is not a member
of our party”.
