Stalin apologises to Tamil Nadu voters in push for 2016 bid

Early on a Friday morning, the din of cars honking mingles with the sounds of nadhaswarams   and accompanying drums outside a temple in the sleepy town of Manapparai, 40 kms from Trichy. A crowd blocks the foot of the flyover allowing entry into the town, some in ‘karai veshti’ (dhoti with party colours at the border) and many others in shorts or veshti, awaiting the biggest event of their day – a promised visit from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Treasurer and likely Chief Ministerial candidate for 2016, MK Stalin.

Stalin is late though after a hectic tour of neighbouring Pudukottai district the previous night, and the crowd begins to open up.

“There are at least 1000 girls from Manapparai traveling everyday to Trichy and other districts to attend college,” says 52-year-old VP Shankar, a real estate agent in Manapparai.

“I am planning to speak to Stalin about this when he comes here,” he adds.

62-year-old K Pandurangan chips in with his observations.

“There is no industry here,” he explains. “Only BHEL is available and that is 40 kms away near Trichy. TNPL (Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd) work is under progress. But that will not be enough. Youngsters here want jobs. They sit around all day at TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, the government-owned alcohol retailer) and drink because they have nothing to do,” he complains.

A 36-year-old farmer agrees with the older man. “I have a BA degree but there was nowhere to work although I even tried to find a job in Chennai,” says V Mahalingam. “I went back to farming as a result but it is hardly enough to sustain a family.”

As a back-up, these men have written down their demands. They eventually do not manage to meet Stalin, who is running late and skips the planned walk around town. Stalin garlands the local Gandhi statue and takes these petitions which are shoved at him through the window of his car. His team then continues to the next point where Stalin will make a speech to waiting DMK labour wing members.

As the convoy honks its way out of the narrow lane, one young man clad in a lungi pipes up.

“This is a trend setter,” says 37-year-old IT professional Suresh Kumar thoughtfully. “Top politicians have never met the public like this. Only their partymen, local leaders may pay a visit. We must appreciate Stalin for coming down to the streets and meeting the people,” he says.

New rhetoric

The likes of Suresh Kumar are the voters that MK Stalin hopes to lure for a battle royale in 2016. Of the 5.6 crore voters in Tamil Nadu, over half a crore will vote for the first time in Assembly polls next year. A sizeable chunk of the remaining are young, aspirational professionals. Stalin, who is 62-years-old, has chosen to go in for a makeover, not just in attire, but also in rhetoric to woo this large mass of voters who are not affiliated ideologically with any political party.

This, and the need to revive the DMK’s flagging credibility amongst the voters, has even pushed him to apologise to the people for his partymen’s past misdeeds. In Madurai, Stalin startled many when he said sorry to some people who had complained to him of DMK men running kangaroo courts when they were in power between 2006 and 2011.

In an exclusive interview to Firstpost, Stalin was at pains to reiterate that he is listening to the people and willing to change from the old ways.

“I suspected that the reason for our loss (in 2011) was because of mistakes made by us unknowingly,” said Stalin.

“I told the people who posed this question to me that I am apologising for the mistakes made by us, with or without our knowledge and intent. I have assured them that such mistakes will not take place again. We promise a corruption-free, collection-free rule,” he said.

Political hawks say that there is a need for Stalin to display repentance.

“The DMK suffered in the Madurai belt mainly due to Alagiri and his sidekicks,” says Gnani Sankaran, author and political analyst.

“Even though he has been expelled now, people in Madurai still remember the Alagiri days badly. That is why Stalin has to say sorry for it,” he adds.

A surprise visit to a temple too has been noticed. Stalin departed from the usual Dravidian atheist rhetoric when he went inside the Ramanujar shrine in Thirukoshtiyur temple in Sivaganga district last week.

His explanation is telling of the pressure to adapt to modern times, in a post-Periyar era where the young have no memory of the turbulence of the 1960s.

“90 to 95% of DMK workers are Hindus,” explains Stalin. “Their families go to temples, even my own wife frequents temples. I do not stop her. The reason I went to this Ramanujar temple is that Kalaignar has written a script for a series on Ramanujar which is being aired on Kalaignar TV. I liked Ramanujar’s ideology a lot. He has used the words ‘Om Namo Narayana’ to establish that all castes and creeds are one. He has organised large protests for this cause in his time. So I felt I should go and see the place where all of this happened and I did so,” he said.

While political hawks welcome the change in positioning, they offer a word of caution.

“Stalin becoming Chief Minister in 2016 does not depend only on him,” says Sankaran. “How the public views the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government, whether they want the government to be rejected will matter. Also how the public views the DMK as a party will count. How Stalin alone is viewed is not going to help,” he says.

Old guard vs new guard

Despite his efforts, trousers, sneakers and all, Stalin’s road is paved with stones. His own partymen could well be his nemesis, with powerful local leaders – many of them consisting of the old guard – unwilling to acquiesce to or understand the need for change.

In Trichy, as Stalin was to arrive for a speech outside the BHEL factory, a frantic phone call sent local DMK men scurrying to remove chairs and a podium from the stage. The usual style of Stalin sitting onstage with the key district DMK leaders was dispensed with. A cordless mic was quickly organised. Stalin would stand and walk about the stage as he delivered his speech. All of this is part of the carefully crafted campaign by Stalin’s team of young planners to project him as a leader with a difference. Even the design for posters and banners to be put up for the Namakku Naamey (“We for us”) campaign has been designed and homogenised by a team for better recall across the state. Party workers have been given strict instructions not to use any other photos of Stalin other than the ones given by his team.

“In districts like Trichy and Villupuram, things get a bit chaotic and not everything goes according to plan,” says a source within Stalin’s team on condition of anonymity. “But in places like Coimbatore and Madurai, everything is organised smoothly down to the last detail.”

This, perhaps is one of Stalin’s main challenges. A resistant old guard with leaders like KN Nehru, Trichy’s local strongman and district secretary of the DMK and Ponmudi of Villupuram, flexing muscle within their own fiefdoms. Infighting within the party at the grassroots level too has taken its toll.

“I do not know what Stalin is trying to do with all of this drama,” said a senior DMK leader on condition of anonymity. “I do not think this is going to work at all. Will people vote for trousers and shirts?” he asked.

These leaders air suspicions about Stalin’s motives, wondering if he too would go the Karunanidhi way, promoting his son or son-in-law to take over the DMK in the future. They say that they want dynastic politics to end with Stalin in the party. Staunch supporters of Stalin rubbish these suspicions, saying Stalin has never shown any inclination to promote his family in politics.

“Iron Man”

A day after the first leg of the Namakku Naamey (“We for us”) tour ended, DMK chief Karunanidhi issued a statement on Stalin’s arrival in Chennai on Saturday. Dispelling rumours of a perceived distance between father and son, Karunanidhi compared Stalin with his Russian namesake, calling him an “Iron Man”.

In the same breath, Karuna inserted a characteristic smirk at his son. “Does Stalin have the smartness to overcome hurdles?” he asked in his statement. “What is required to cross hurdles is not smartness but efficiency. Stalin does indeed have that efficiency,” he said.

His father, say experts, is yet another stone in Stalin’s path.

“Within the party I think Stalin faces only 2 problems – one is his father, a towering personality who still refuses to vacate his chair,” opines political analyst Gnani Sankaran. “The second problem is the party’s image which has been dented due to Kanimozhi, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran. There is nothing against Stalin, he is not involved in any scam, there is nothing pending against him, but these three people have affected the party’s image. And that is going to be hard to overcome,” he says.

Taking on Jaya

A week-long break later, Stalin and his team will hit the road again, this time across the Western districts of the state. As they go along, rival AIADMK workers in districts are quietly putting up hoardings of their leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa right next to Stalin’s Namakku Naamey posters.

Jaya beams out from these posters stating “Makkalal Naan, Makkalukkaaga Naan” (“I am because of the people and for the people”). Stalin can never win a personality battle against Jaya. His team says that he won’t try either. The emphasis, instead, will be on the fact that he’s a leader who is accessible, willing to put in hard work and unafraid to shake hands with the common man – something neither Karuna nor Jaya have done in the past few decades.

People appear to have responded to Stalin’s efforts with curiosity and some degree of affection.

“My mother is uneducated and an AIADMK voter,” grins Suresh Kumar of Manapparai. “She told me she appreciates Stalin’s new look and his efforts. This is the first time a big leader is reaching out in Tamil Nadu. We must appreciate it,” he argues.

Many across districts concur with him. But whether this initial goodwill can translate into votes is anybody’s guess. Ultimately, the DMK will require a strong alliance, say experts. “The second obstacle before the DMK is to make the public understand how corrupt the AIADMK government is,” says Gnani Sankaran. “This is a very difficult proposition now with the AIADMK using the welfare mask to cover its corrupt side. For the DMK it is quite difficult to peel off this welfare mask and expose the corruption of the AIADMK,” he says.

Handicapped by a debilitating loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK is limping back to counter the might of the AIADMK. Every little bit will matter in the coming crucial months – their stance on key issues, choice of candidates, whether the party can unite to fight simply for survival and whether the new leader can take everyone along.

“Know yourself and you will win all battles,” said Sun Tzu in Art of War. MK Stalin’s battle and the DMK’s has only just begun.

The writer tweets at @sandhyaravishan