Current affairs

When rivals come face to face...Surprise meet between MK Stalin and OPS at Stalin's swearing-in ceremony!

By alagu, 07 May, 2021
MK Stalin, DMK, Tamilnadu

DMK President MK Stalin has on Friday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time, by setting a historical milestone in his political career. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan and Governor Banwarilal Purohit had administered the oath of office and secrecy to Stalin and 33 cabinet ministers.  

Stalin has assumed the Office of the Chief Minister for the first time after securing a spectacular victory in the state assembly elections. The ceremony was kept austere in light of the COVID-19 pandemic but there was no dearth for surprises and emotional moments. The ceremony had lasted for over two hours and MK Stalin had taken the oath as the Chief Minister at around 9.30 am on Friday. Stalin's family members including his wife Durga Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin had participated in the ceremony. 

When MK Stalin said, "I, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin", during taking the oath, the entire hall was filled with applause while Durga Stalin and Udhayanidhi had gone emotional and broken down in tears. The wave of emotions had hit Stalin's family and there was a brotherly hug between Udhayanidhi Stalin and Dayanidhi Alagiri, the son of MK Stalin's estranged brother MK Alagiri. While the ceremony had turned into an emotional and a family reunion, it had also presented a surprise meeting of the rivals. 

Following the ceremony, Governor Banwarilal Purohit had arranged a tea party at Raj Bhavan for the top leaders and participants. MK Stalin had taken the chair near to the Governor while his rival former Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam sat right opposite to him. Panneerselvam was one of the key leaders of the outgoing administration to attend the ceremony and when both of them sat opposite each other, it was direct eye-to-eye contact between the rivals. 

DMK General Secretary Durai Murugan, who took oath as the Minister for Water Resources, and former House Speaker Dhanapal took the chairs near to the Governor and the Chief Minister. It was the first time eye-to-eye contact between Stalin and his predecessor Panneerselvam since DMK won the elections. In what has become a surprise meeting of the rivals, the visuals of the meeting are getting rampantly spread on social media. 

Apart from Panneerselvam and Dhanapal, the ceremony was also attended by several leaders including BJP's L Ganesan, Congress party's KS Alagiri and P Chidambaram, Makkal Needhi Maiam's Kamal Haasan and Ponraj, MDMK Chief Vaiko, VCK Chief Thol Thirumavalavan, and leaders of the other allied parties of DMK. Political strategist Prashant Kishor, who worked for DMK in the assembly polls, had also attended the ceremony. 

MK Stalin's estranged brother MK Alagiri, who observes a feud with the former, has on Thursday expressed his wish to his younger brother Stalin for becoming the Chief Minister. Alagiri had also sent his son Dayanidhi Alagiri to the ceremony and while Dayanidhi came to the ceremony, he was greeted by Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin.  After swearing-in as the Chief Minister, MK Stalin straightly drove to his father Karunanidhi's residence in Gopalapuram and paid floral tribute to his father's portrait and received blessings from his mother Dayyalu Ammal. 

He then came to Karunanidhi's memorial and paid respect to his father and to the DMK founder Araignar Annadurai. Chief Minister Stalin will be convening his first cabinet meeting at 4 pm on Friday to discuss and take stock of the Covid situation in the state and framing new strategies and measures to contain the second wave of the pandemic.

 

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