MK Stalin, the long standing heir apparent to DMK chief M Karunanidhi, may have failed to oust AIADMK but a spirited campaign for over a year marked by a makeover virtually made it a close race in Tamil Nadu where traditionally the contests have been one sided.

Analysts now believe that if the DMK had projected him as the chief ministerial face, instead of his 91-year-old father, M Karunanidhi the election verdict could have been different.

Targeting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa over “inaccessibility”, 63-year-old Stalin carefully worked out the campaign beginning with his massive voter outreach programme “ Namakku Naame Vidiyal Meetpu Payanam ” (We for ourselves, journey to retrieve dawn) as early as last September.

Though his estranged brother Alagiri called it a “comedy show”, Stalin continued to vigorously canvas support for his party and began going for a complete image makeover - swapping the trademark attire of Dravidian politicians of dhoti and shawl with sports shoes - with an aim of appealing to the massive young electorate.

Makeover

The reach-out plan covered all the 234 assembly constituencies. He even made it a point to directly interact with and people held a string of programmes and rallies, such as the Vidiyal Meetru Perani . Stalin was photographed shaking hands with passengers in buses, autos and in other public places, listening to their grievances.

During campaign in open-top vans, he consciously put him arm around party candidates, saying that this was “democracy and brotherhood” in the DMK, and mocked AIADMK men for bowing before their chief Jayalalithaa.

Such gestures were used by DMK to portray their leader as an accessible and affable personality as opposed to the perception of Jayalalithaa as an “inaccessible” leader. Stalin also tried out new initiatives like “ Pesalam Vanga ,” (Come Let us Talk), which was similar to PM Modi’s ‘ Chai pe Charcha ’, with the people of his constituency Kolathur.

He extensively toured Tamil Nadu, addressed hundreds of public meetings and rallies and even expressed regret for some “mistakes” that had happened during the previous DMK tenure and assured people that such things would not be repeated if his party was voted back to power.

Complete control

DMK today is largely under his control. With his older brother and former Union Minister MK Alagiri having been expelled from the party in 2014, there is no one else in the party who could challenge him.

It took Stalin four decades to get to a position of being able to call the shots in the party. That he is virtually the numero uno in party organisation was reflected in the selection of candidates for the May 16 Assembly elections too.

Although Stalin himself had said that Karunanidhi would be the Chief Minister, if they were elected, which was reiterated by his father recently, Stalin’s supporters strongly believe that it was only a matter of time before the mantle was formally passed on to him.

Starting young

Stalin, born on March 1, 1953, campaigned for DMK in the 1967 elections when he was a 14-year old school student. He was incarcerated under MISA in 1976.

He became party’s youth wing Secretary in 1984, and since then he has been holding the post though he is now a senior citizen.

Since then, his growth has been steady and in 2003, he became the party’s deputy general secretary. He was re-elected as the treasurer for the second five-year term in January 2015.

Stalin became an MLA for the first time in 1989, representing the Thousand Lights constituency from where he has been re-elected thrice.

In 1996, he was elected Mayor of Chennai Corporation and re-elected in 2001. However, he had to exit with the AIADMK capturing power which enacted a law that barred elected representatives also holding local body positions.

In 2006, he became the Municipal Administration Minister in the DMK government and went on to become the Deputy Chief Minister in 2009.

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