In the sudden development, DMK's sitting treasurer Duraimurugan has stepped down from the post on Monday with the view of becoming the successor for the party's long-time General Secretary K Anbhazhgan, the closest aide of Karunanidhi, who demised earlier this month.

The reports say that Duraimurugan has tendered his resignation from the post of the treasurer to make his way clear towards getting elevated as the party's next general secretary. His resignation has come a day after party's president MK Stalin issued the notification to convene the party's general council. 

In a statement issued on Sunday, Stalin stated that the party has convened a meeting of its general council on March 29th at the party's headquarters to elect the party's new general secretary. As per DMK's regulations, the posts of President, General Secretary, and Treasurer will be elected by the general council and according to the reports, the general council will also elect a new treasurer to replace Duraimurugan if he gets elevated as general secretary.

As we reported earlier, Duraimurugan has been the frontrunner for the post of General Secretary as he is currently the senior-most leader in the party among the second line of the leadership and he would be elected unopposed. However, the race for the treasurer wouldn't be as light as a general secretary. The senior leaders like TR Baalu, EV Velu, KN Nehru, Ponmudi, A Raja were on the track to grab the post of the treasurer and the general council would reveal who has won the race for the post that was decorated by Karunanidhi and Stalin, before becoming party's presidents.

On Monday, MK Stalin has accepted Duraimurugan's wish to become the next General Secretary. If elected, Duraimurugan will be succeeding Anbazhagan. Anbazhagan has died on March 7th at 97 due to the age-related ailments. The deceased leader served as the party's general secretary since 1977, for the past 43 years until his death. On Saturday, the party had unveiled Anbazhagan's portrait at the DMK headquarters in Chennai.