In a mega show of opposition unity, several leaders across political parties attended the inauguration of the Anna Kalaignar Arivalayam in the national capital on Saturday, April 2. DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the party office which will be the party’s second headquarters. DMK supporters who had gathered in large numbers outside the new party office in the national capital showered flower petals on MK Stalin as he arrived for the inauguration of the new party office.
Those who were present for the inauguration included interim Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPI(M) national general secretary Sitaram Yechury, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, VCK leader Thirumavalavan, and MDM leader Vaiko. Leaders from the TMC, TDP, CPI, BJD and SAD were also among those present as the DMK office was inaugurated by party chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin with Sonia Gandhi cutting the ribbon for one of the sections of the office.
Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra, Telugu Desam Party MPs Ram Mohan Naidu and Jayadev Galla, as well as Ramgopal Yadav from the Samajwadi Party and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were present at the inauguration. The party office’s inauguration is being seen as a symbolic representation of the DMK establishing its foot as a national front. In Delhi, Stalin called upon the Left and regional parties that are in opposition against the BJP to together to fight it unitedly.
Billing it as an event that would write the history of southern India from Delhi, Stalin had said it is a "compelling symbol" of the vital space in national politics for his party, its policies and the vehicle to implement it, the Dravidian model.
Meanwhile, the DMK party cadre has launched a social media campaign highlighting that the party office inauguration is symbolic of social justice reaching Delhi. The new DMK office is a “compelling symbol of the indispensable role that the DMK and the Dravidian model plays in the national politics,” Stalin said in a letter written to the party cadre. The party office being referred to as a Dravidian fort has been built in the Dravidian style of architecture.
Stalin had earlier, on January 26, announced that an All India Federation For Social Justice will be launched soon to strive to achieve the principles of federalism and social justice at the national level. He had also written to leaders of 37 parties inviting them to nominate party leaders for the federation.