New Year 2013 has announced itself with a roar in Tamil Nadu – the roar of an octogenarian politician sounding a highly complex and ticklish succession bugle.
A question which had been asked for many years now suddenly has an answer and fittingly in the hoary cinematic traditions of the state, the drama in the new year was scripted by none other than DMK patriarch Muthuvel Karunanidhi when he put his stamp of approval on his political successor by naming his third and favourite son Stalin.
“Till my last breath I will work for the upliftment of society. To the question as to who will carry on this work after me, you should not forget Stalin, who is sitting here,” said Karunanidhi, his emotions barely in check, while delivering a speech at a party function in Chennai, evoking loud and thunderous applause from the Dravida Munetra Kazagham (DMK) cadres present.
In a state where the Karunanidhi family essentially constitutes the DMK, the battle of succession in Tamil Nadu’s first political family is a keenly contested affair. Coming from the grand patriarch himself, the naming of Stalin is being seen as a signal that of all of his inheritors – and Karunanidhi has many – it is only current DMK treasurer who has the capability to lead the party and the government. Except for Karunanidhi’s second son and the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, MK Alagiri, who did not hide his obvious disgruntlement, the rest of the DMK rank and file has fallen in line for now. “DMK is not a shankara mutt for anybody to nominate,” Madurai-based Alagiri said in statement smacking of sarcasm. For good measure, the Union minister and DMK leader hit back and added that he would not accept anybody except his father as leader, making it clear that Stalin has a battle on hand if he thought a mere nomination by his father and supreme leader was enough to clear the way for him to assume the mantle of leadership for all times to come.
According to insiders, though silent, senior party men have strongly advised the Union minister not to react adversely. “Kalignar or Karunanidhi is the final authority and we abide by his decisions. All we ask is due to respect for Alagiri,” a veteran DMK functionary and Alagiri supporter told TSI.
However, Alagiri has chosen to lie low for the time being, hemmed in by son Durainidhi’s alleged involvement in the granite scam in Tamil Nadu.
Born four days after the death of Joseph Stalin, the great Soviet Communist dictator, Karunanidhi’s third son was christened after him. The Tamil Stalin, his father’s political shadow, has preferred to maintain a stoic silence and has chosen not to react to his father’s statement or even his brother’s outburst.
Not without reason. Karunanidhi, who is credited for successfully scripting screenplay for theatre, cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu for more than a half a century, has been equally successful in scripting son Stalin’s succession for more than two decades now.
A lot of it was in evidence last fortnight. The DMK chief played Chanakya to perfection, enlisting the support of nonagenarian party general secretary K Anbazhagan to propose Stalin’s name; all that he did was to second it, on the sidelines of a meeting of DMK district secretaries. Smart move.
Anbazhagan, who was present at the media conference, said if he proposed Stalin’s name, the others would have no option but to toe the party line. “The party president cannot reject the proposal,” Anbazhagan asserted. He should know. Asked whether he would stay away from contesting the forthcoming organisational polls, Anbazhagan declared he was not certain if he would be around till then!
The man named to succeed Karunanidhi is by no means a greenhorn. Stalin took to the political arena in 1967 as a 14-year-old participating in the anti-Hindi agitation sweeping the state, an agitation that also saw the ouster of the Congress party from St George Fort in the assembly elections. He campaigned for uncle Murasoli Maran, who was contesting for a Lok Sabha seat.
A graduate from the Presidency College in 1973, Stalin was inducted into DMK’s general council. After dismissal of the party government by the Centre on charges of corruption and imposition of the Emergency in 1977, both Karunanidhi and Stalin were among the front line DMK leaders arrested.
Sudhangan, a Chennai-based veteran journalist, believes several senior leaders who could have challenged Stalin’s position in the party are either no more or too old to be active. Some have been over the years systematically sidelined or have quit DMK to float their own outfit. One such leader and a good orator was V Gopalswamy or Vaiko who quit DMK in 1990’s to start his own MDMK.
A few senior leaders like the late Veerapandi S Arumugam, were also opposed to Stalin being elevated as the next supreme leader but are no longer on the scene to offer resistance or advice. But there is also a contrary view. Another observer of Dravidian politics in Chennai believes that DMK will be quiet as it was during the expulsion of MG Ramachandran during 1970’s and Vaiko during 1990’s and Stalin’s nomination as party chief will be a smooth, hassle-free affair.
Unlike his father who is a great orator, Stalin has the capacity to hit the road along with his cadres and has a strong presence in northern Tamil Nadu; silently, he has also been making a dent in the electoral base of his elder brother and rival Alagiri during the last few months.
For instance, Stalin recently won over Madurai DMK’s urban district secretary G Thalapathy, a staunch Alagiri supporter to his camp. The public meeting called by the DMK at the behest of Stalin to demand better maintenance of the Thiruvalluvar statue in the sea off the Kanyakumari coast in Tamil Nadu is seriously going to test Alagiri’s hold in the southern districts.
Realising the need to curb dissent in the party, especially in Alagiri’s southern Tamil Nadu base, Stalin has filled key posts with his men. Alagiri, who packed off to Delhi and has failed to make a mark in the national capital found out – much to his surprise – that rules for elections in the party organisation had been changed. Kin of senior leaders were disqualified from contesting party posts in the youth wing. The entire hierarchy of senior leaders, many of whom backed Alagiri, found out at the last minute that their children could not contest. It was by any yardstick a clever move by Stalin to outflank his brother. Round one to Stalin. Also, the USP of the current youth wing leaders who have emerged as district secretaries during the last two years are that they are staunch Stalin loyalists.
It is not just Alagiri and his base that presents the most formidable challenge to Stalin – labelled ‘Ilaya Thalapathi’ or young commander. The new leader will, equally, have to keep an eye on his half-sister Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP and a key accused in the 2-G scam cases, who has a following within the powerful Nadar community that accounts for 20 to 24 per cent of votes in the state.
And she is not the only one either. Stalin cannot afford to ignore his cousins, the Maran brothers Dayanidhi and Kalanidhi, who wield considerable media influence through the SUN TV empire and have recently acquired Spice Jet. It is no state secret that members of Tamil Nadu’s first family have been at loggerheads during the last decade to become Karunaidhi’s chosen heir.
There is a bigger worry. With Karunanidhi around, ultimately all family and party issues can be managed – or even swept under the carpet. But after him, it remains “to be seen how effectively Stalin can manage family, DMK and encroachment from other parties,” says a functionary. These factors will almost certainly determine the future of DMK and of Stalin himself.
But Sudhangan says it would be interesting to watch the strategy adopted by Stalin to keep DMK close to its core ideology and woo new young voters. By all accounts, it is an onerous ask. “We will have to wait and watch how the street fighter in Stalin steers DMK towards unity and woos young voters.” Apparently, a lot of people in Tamil Nadu will be doing just that.
With inputs from Appanasamy
