After years of impatient wait, the betaji of Tamil Nadu politics got his due with M K Stalin’s elevation as the DMK’s working president. That he had to wait for so long despite being a dynast tells the tale of ambition and intrigue within the first family of the party. Stalin though didn’t need a coup to grab power unlike his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Akhilesh Yadav, who snatched the Samajwadi Party’s reins from under the nose of his dad and party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The DMK heir apparent’s promotion happened because of patriarch M Karunanidhi’s failing health and the tracheostomy procedure he underwent — inserting a hole in the windpipe — to help him with breathing. Had his dad’s health been better, Stalin’s wait could have extended even further. Tells you how generational shifts don’t come easy in any party across the country, including the BJP.
When the average age of the electorate came down over a decade ago, most parties started scouring for talent that would appeal to that age group. That was how Rahul came to be projected by Sonia Gandhi as the hot new face of the Congress. It is a different matter that he is still in the interning stage.
In the BJP, Narendra Modi emerged big time and sent then icon L K Advani to an advisory position in the Margadarshak Mandal. Ditto Akhilesh Yadav, as he became the chief minister with a reluctant Mulayam forced to make way.
In the DMK, Karunanidhi experimented with his sons, daughter and grandnephew — Stalin, Alagiri, Kanimozhi and Dayanidhi Maran — by pushing them up the power ladder.
While Dayanidhi and Kanimozhi got tainted by the 2G spectrum scam, and Alagiri proved his incompetence as a Union minister, it was Stalin who showed he was a doer. Yet Karunanidhi hesitated to promote him, craftily playing on the rift in the parivar.
That was how at the ripe old age of 91, he was the chief ministerial face of the DMK when the state went to the polls last year. It was Stalin who did the spadework by touring the state extensively, launching a blistering Namakku Naame (we for ourselves) campaign, making pit stops for photo ops at roadside eateries, driving tractors, kissing babies and naming them, and visiting temples to draw voters’ eyeballs. The DMK eventually lost the battle, but won as many as 89 seats, the highest-ever by an Opposition party in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin was elected Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and offered to end the politics of acrimony with the AIADMK, which had not been attempted in the state for decades. He also broke new ground after becoming the working president by calling on Chief Minister O Panneerselvam at his office in the Secretariat. No such interaction had ever happened in the past.
Stalin’s confidence in taking a new approach stemmed from his near-total grip on the party structure. To get to the current stage, he had to purge the rebels and co-opt other grumbling regional satraps who had pockets of influence like the party’s principal secretary, Durai Murugan. At the general council meeting, Durai Murugan broke down as he borrowed a line from DMK founder C N Annadurai and addressed Stalin, saying: “Thambi vaa, thalaimai yaerka vaa (Come younger brother, take over the leadership). We are ready to follow your command.”
That thambi line couldn’t possibly have come straight from the heart till about a few years ago, since at that point Durai Murugan was sulking. He was also visibly upset in 2014 when Stalin denied his son a position in the Vellore district unit. They later made their peace, after which Durai Murugan could be spotted at Stalin’s elbow on all important occasions.
But for Stalin, the biggest headache came from Alagiri, who earlier had the southern Tamil Nadu units of the party under his thumb and stoutly refused to accept his leadership. Stalin applied Zandu Balm by dismantling the rebellious units and packing them with loyalists. Evidence of the balm working came a few weeks ago, when Alagiri appeared to have declared truce and stayed silent in the run-up to the coronation. Stalin may have managed Alagiri, but he has his limitations. He is a hard worker but unlike Akhilesh, he is not charismatic. Nor is he a fiery orator. Karunanidhi is a master at managing contradictions; Stalin’s ability on that count is yet to be tested.
Stalin also is not known to be cerebral but is certainly pragmatic. He was always wary of Vijayakant joining the DMK-led poll alliance at a time when Karunanidhi was ready to welcome him with open arms. That the DMDK ditched him showed Stalin’s savvy and how Karunanidhi was losing his touch.
At a time when the ruling party is trying to address its political vacuum after the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Stalin needs to ensure that he does not add to the void in the post-Karunanidhi phase. Therein lies the challenge.
Suresh Sundaram
Deputy Resident Editor, Tamil Nadu
Email: ssuresh@newindianexpress.com