Why MK Stalin becoming DMK chief is the coronation of a crown prince
On August 8, a tired son stood right beside his father’s casket greeting visitors and overseeing the arrangements at the Rajaji Hall. Half past 10am, the crowd erupted in joy over the verdict in Madras High Court that allowed Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch M Karunanidhi’s burial at the Marina Beach.
MK Stalin, the prodigal son of DMK Patriarch folded his hands to the crowd. As emotions took over, the prince in waiting broke down, stumbled even as his party men and half-sister ran forward to hold him. Earlier in the day, as he bid goodbye to his father, Stalin penned an emotional letter to Karunanidhi. "At least now, just once, shall I call you Appa, Thalaivare?" wrote Stalin, making a reference to how he always addressed his father in public as his leader and not his father.
The rare display of emotion by Stalin was a first in his five decade long public life. The burden of a legacy that comes from being Karunanidhi’s son is enormous. As MK Stalin steps into his new role as the President of the DMK, he would have to step in to fill his father’s large shoes. Challenges and expectations await the new president.
While being Karunanidhi’s son gave Stalin an advantage, he had to go through the grind and climb up the ladder in the DMK. At the age of 14, Stalin’s political career in the party began as a student campaigner for the 1967 elections. He was catapulted to the centre stage when he was arrested during the emergency under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Securities Act (MISA) that was in force then. Stalin often recalls his time in prison as a great political lesson. The scar in his right hand from the alleged prison torture now remains a permanent body mark for identification.
Apart from politics, Stalin briefly dabbled in the world of entertainment. He played the role of “Aravindan”, a journalist in Doordashan TV serial Kurinji Malar in the mid 1980s. He met with limited success and realised that entertainment industry was not his forte.
In 1984, Stalin lost the very first assembly election he contested from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai by a narrow margin. The defeat propelled him to tour the state and address public meetings. During the 1989 elections, Stalin won by a handsome margin from the same constituency. Despite his victory, Karunanidhi never made him part of his cabinet. The DMK patriarch was in no hurry for his son to take over the mantle of the party. He wanted Stalin to learn the ropes in a systematic manner.
Stalin’s time came when he was elected as the Mayor of Chennai in 1996. He defeated the combined opposition’s candidate, VS Chandraleka, by a margin of over four lakh votes. It’s the mayoral stint that gave Stalin the administrative experience. His pet project – Singara Chennai, an initiative to spruce up Chennai’s infrastructure was widely appreciated. Stalin was appointed the deputy chief minister in the last DMK regime in 2006-2011. He held the portfolio of Rural Development.
Stalin ran a celebrated campaign, “Nammaku Naame” (a mass interaction programme) ahead of the 2016 assembly elections. His team presented a Stalin 2.0 making him undergo a sartorial makeover, discarding his veshti for trousers, making pitstops at tea shops to interact with voters and reaching out to professionals from diverse fields.
Under the watchful eyes of Karunanidhi, Stalin was never fully given autonomy within the DMK. Many critics point out Karunanidhi’s reluctance to declare him as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2016 assembly polls. In an interview just ahead of the polls, the DMK Patriarch said, “Stalin can become chief minister if nature does something to me.” It was only in January 2017, MK Stalin was named the working President of the party when Karunanidhi retired from active politics due to his ill health.
In the absence of DMK chief, Stalin has an arduous task ahead. The first test of Stalin’s leadership will be the upcoming bypolls in Thiruparankundram and Thiruvarur constituencies ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Apart from winning elections, Stalin has to strike a balance with the seniors in the party and take them along in a post Karunanidhi era.
Political analysts say only a victory in the bypolls will silence the critics of Stalin both within and outside the party. Senior journalist TS Sudhir opines that Stalin’s appeal to young voters will be very crucial. “Becoming DMK President is the easiest of tasks. 2019 will be an acid test for Stalin. He cannot afford a hatrick of failures. For Stalin to appeal to voters, mere anti incumbency against rival AIADMK won’t work. What will Stalin 3.0 be like will determine his political future.”
With the passing away of Dravidian titans, Tamil Nadu is in a state of flux. New entrants threaten the bipolar nature of Tamil Nadu’s politics. Stalin, has the opportunity to present the voters a party that is in tune with the aspirations of a new generation while balancing the tenets of Dravidian politics.