For the first time in nearly 50 years, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi did not attend a meeting of his party's top decision-making body. The session of the General Council was used to promote his younger son, MK Stalin, as Working President. Mr Stalin, 63, is also the Treasurer of the DMK. Though Mr Karunanidhi, who has served five terms as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, chose Mr Stalin as his political heir four years ago, the younger politician has been confined to an orbit that has not included the party's top job.
