Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin is in troubled waters. His inability as an administrator is showing in the ruling party’s political bankruptcy.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) returned to power in Tamil Nadu after a decade in 2021. An analysis of its functioning shows that it is doing poorly. Stalin is not as transparent as his father M Karunanidhi in dealing with politically sensitive issues through a consultation process.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tamil Nadu earlier this month, as have other Union ministers and BJP president JP Nadda. Then there was the mega show of Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam — along the lines of Varanasi’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam — Modi’s exhortation to people to support artisans and snake charmers on his monthly radio show Mann Ki Baat, and Padma awards to several Tamilians over the past 10 years—these are just a few points that prove the BJP has made inroads in Tamil Nadu polity. This gradual and steady push is an irritant to DMK and other Dravidian parties.
Tamil Nadu has been witnessing many explosive political developments of late. In-fighting has returned in DMK while its functionaries have been seen threatening bus operators and ration shop owners. DMK accused governor RN Ravi of carrying out the Centre’s “agenda”. DMK leader RS Bharathi even said that North Indian migrants only sell paani puri in the state and the governor is like them.
Roughly 10 lakh migrants from north India are working in the state in farming, construction, hospitality, and other industries.
This shows that CM Stalin is unable to politically retrieve DMK from a series of crises.
Edappadi Palanisamy, leader of opposition AIADMK, got recognition from the Election Commission about his status as the general secretary of the party. AIADMK also got allotted the prestigious ‘two-leaves’ symbol. It was a major setback for Stalin, who had envisioned a scenario where the AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam—who is too chummy with the DMK—would wage an endless legal battle to reclaim the symbol.
In another blow, BJP state president K Annamalai, backed by central leadership, released “DMK files” in Chennai. It was almost like BJP coming out with “Congress files” in New Delhi. The “DMK files” is a video compilation of corruption allegations against senior leaders of the party. DMK leaders have said these files contain nothing but the asset details already declared in affidavits during election times. While some on social media went to town with the video, others ignored it. Soon an alleged audio clip of finance minister PTR Thiagarajan went viral. The clip makes allegations of Rs 30,000 crore scam against Stalin’s family. After 72 hours, the state government denied all claims made in the clip.
Stalin has announced that a statue of former PM Viswanath Pratap Singh will be installed in Chennai to mark his work on social justice. But this has led to Congress leaders secretly discussing how VP Singh had “backstabbed” Rajiv Gandhi as the finance minister during the Bofors scandal.
An ongoing buzz in Chennai is that a senior Congress leader called up DMK leaders to express his reservations against the statue, which has become a political issue. Does DMK intend to send a signal to the Congress? This is after the latter is already fuming over Stalin hugging AG Perarivalan, the convicted assassin of Rajiv Gandhi.
In the Tamil Nadu assembly, Stalin has moved two sensitive resolutions. The first asked the Centre to amend the Constitution to give statutory protection, rights and reservation to Scheduled Caste members who have converted to Christianity. BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan and other party members walked out of the assembly in protest after Speaker M Appavu expunged some remarks made by her.
The second resolution by Stalin was a bill seeking amendment in the Factories Act 1948 to increase working hours from eight to 12. This has seemingly irked DMK allies, including Communist Party of India (CPI) and CPI (Marxist).
Also read: DMK’s rising star or crowned too soon? Inside MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi’s swift ascent as minister
Tamil Nadu geared up for 2024
Stalin never misses an opportunity to heckle and criticise BJP, especially PM Modi. He said on record that it is his party’s stand that Modi should not become the prime minister again. Stalin is not only writing such remarks in DMK’s mouthpiece Murasoli, a daily newspaper, but also in frequent video messages to party members.
On the other hand, Annamalai has gained tremendous support among the young people of Tamil Nadu. But senior leaders are not endorsing his views. The party wants to lead alone in a state where coalition is the order of electoral politics. Neither DMK nor AIADMK have the potential strength to stand alone. Unless alliances are formed, there is no chance of a single party winning the assembly election.
With no sign of an alliance, DMK is also losing its sheen among voters for not fulfilling electoral promises of reducing petrol and diesel prices.
The upcoming Karnataka assembly election will have a moral binding on Tamil Nadu politics. Home Minister Amit Shah will meet EK Palaniswami on 26 April, for a discussion in New Delhi on Tamil Nadu’s political climate. Shah has said that the BJP-AIADMK alliance will continue.
BJP has evolved its strategies. To compensate for possibly saturated states where the party cannot maximise, it is looking at South India for 120 Lok Sabha seats. In that respect, Karnataka seems to be a cake walk. But Telangana and Tamil Nadu are a tightrope where the party is aiming to get 15 seats.
Similarly, Congress is also looking at Tamil Nadu as a fertile land to harvest Lok Sabha seats.
Tamil Nadu has geared up for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. But if BJP and Modi do a hat-trick this time, Tamil Nadu will eagerly look forward to a fierce fight in the 2026 assembly election.
The author tweets @RAJAGOPALAN1951. Views are personal.