MK Alagiri changes stance on re-entry into DMK, says he is 'ready to accept Stalin' as his leader

Expelled DMK member and former Union minister MK Alagiri on Thursday said that he was ready to accept his younger brother and party president MK Stalin as his leader if he is reinstated into the party, according to several media reports. [caption id=“attachment_673815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of MK Alagiri. PTI[/caption] “I am ready to accept Stalin as my leader if the party takes me back," Alagiri said while speaking to reporters outside his home in Chennai. He said “the DMK should realise that the general body alone was not the party”,  according to a Times of India report. Alagiri plans to hold a rally in Chennai on 5 September near late DMK president M Karunanidhi’s grave on Marina Beach. He claimed that he is confident that no less than 1 lakh people will attend the scheduled peace march and that all arrangements were being made to ensure that it is a grand success.  “We are not facing any problem from the ruling party regarding the arrangements", he said. Alagiri was expelled from the DMK in 2014 on charges of anti-party activities and he has been critical of DMK chief MK Stalin’s leadership since then. Earlier, he had even warned the party of “consequences” if he was not taken back into its fold. His statement, signifying a dramatic U-turn from his previous stand, has come just hours before an all party gathering in Chennai which is slated to be held in memory of Karunanidhi.