Annadurai: The southern strongman who established DMK

There was a stupefied silence in the group once the figure of its gains crossed all expectations. The men, glued to a small radio in a modest house with just a 25-watt bulb for light, were too overwhelmed to react. Perhaps the announcer had got the figures wrong due to fatigue-it was past midnight, and the election ballots were still being counted.

Annadurai, or Anna to his followers-the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was contesting the assembly elections-noticed the great excitement and jubilation expressed by everyone as results started pouring in. But as the DMK's gains crossed 60, signs of disbelief and dismay began to appear on his face. Then, the final announcement confirmed the abysmal defeat of the Congress party to the DMK, which had won with a thumping majority of 137 seats, more than a two-thirds majority in a house of 222 seats. The Congress had managed just 49 seats, while the DMK's allies, the Swatantra, got 20, with the Left Communists at 11 and the others at five. Anna's friends-Karunanidhi, Nedunchezhian and Anbazhagan among them- stood up and hugged each other, laughing and shouting, unable to contain themselves. But Anna looked worried.

That was strange. It was Anna's genius that had engineered a united opposition against the Congress. But the DMK winning 137 seats independently? It was incredible. When his friends left to snatch a few hours of sleep, Annadurai told his adopted son Parimalam, "We should not have won the reins so soon. The people have overthrown the Congress, which has a history of 150 years. Our party's history is hardly 15 years. It is sad that leaders like Kamaraj and Bhakthavatsalam lost the elections. And we are responsible." He could not believe that the dramatic ascent was an indication that his party had come of age.

It was indeed a spectacular feat for a young party, one that had been born in 1949. An offshoot of the Dravidar Kazhagam of EV Ramaswamy Naicker (better known as Periyar), the DMK rose as the main challenger to Congress in the late 1950s and early 1960s, contesting two elections before finally driving Congress out of power in 1967.

Annadurai, however, was not aware that it was a victory that was to change the course of the socio-political history of Tamil Nadu thereafter. That it was the beginning of an era that was to be dominated by non-Congress Dravidian party rule in Tamil Nadu. To a great extent, it was Annadurai's victory. Anna, an elder brother to millions of his followers, was responsible for the appeal of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, establishing the DMK as a regional party. He became its first chief minister in 1967.

(The writer is author of Amma: Jayalalithaa's Journey from Movie Star to Political Queen)