Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Vaiko on Sunday accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam of organising protests against him when he had attempted to visit DMK chief M Karunanidhi at a Chennai hospital on Saturday, The Hindu reported. Vaiko also said DMK leader MK Stalin was not his political enemy, despite claiming that the former Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister was insecure about him.
“I had told DMK MP Kanimozhi that I was coming, though I was told that it wouldn’t be possible to speak to Karunanidhi,” Vaiko said, the Hindustan Times reported. “It wasn’t a spontaneous reaction of the cadre. They were instigated and around 50 men were brought to attack me.” Vaiko eventually left the area without meeting the DMK chief after his car was pelted with slippers and stones.
“This was clearly done on instructions from somewhere else,” the MDMK chief said. He added that Stalin, Karunanidhi’s son, had always felt insecure about him because of a fear that he would become a more powerful leader within the DMK. Vaiko was expelled from the party in 1993. His remarks came even as DMK leaders including Stalin condemned the protests against him and appealed to DMK workers to “maintain calm”.
Several politicians including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders M Thambidurai and D Jayakumar have visited Karunanidhi since he was admitted to the hospital on December 15 for breathing problems caused by a throat and lung infection. This is the second time this month that the DMK chief has been admitted to hospital. On December 1, he was admitted for nutritional treatment and hydration. He was discharged on December 7.
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