Dravida Munetra Kazhagam
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History
As in 2020
R Rangaraj, September 18, 2020: The Times of India
A few years ago, it appeared that the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam had outlived its utility. The issues that propelled its growth in the 1950s and 1960s like anti-North, anti-Aryan, anti-Hindi campaign and a call for state autonomy seemed to have run out of steam from the 1990s as the party became part of the very set-up it abhorred — Government of India.
The DMK, it seemed, could no longer afford to flog a dead horse as its prime movers — reservation for Other Backward Classes, right to property for women, rights to appointment as temples archakas for members of all communities, promotion of inter-caste marriages — had all been implemented and the benefits enjoyed by the people. With the issues of the past no longer relevant as far as the masses were concerned, the DMK stagnated. The party also seemed to have run out of ideas to ensure mass acceptance, while the AIADMK managed to capture the imagination of the people.
Who is CN Annadurai
He was one of the co-founders of the DMK and was popularly known as Perarignar Anna. He was a driving force in Tamil Nadu politics and was responsible for knocking out the Congress in 1967. Annadurai broke away from the Dravida Kazagam (DK), a party floated by Periyar EV Ramsamy Naicker as a social reformist outfit. One of the reasons for Annadurai to part ways with his mentor was because of the latter's demand for a separate state of Tamil Nadu outside the Indian Union.
Since 2017, however, it is the man that the DMK opposes the most — Narendra Modi — who has, ironically, given the regional party a new lease of life as it turns 71, making it relevant all over again. The excessive use of Hindi at national gatherings to the exclusion of English, the crude attempts to impose Hindi through normal correspondence or communication of Union government policies, the thrust given to National Education Policy (NEP) without adequate consultation with the states, the CAA issue, the urgency shown in pushing through National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) exams despite the coronavirus situation combined with the spate of suicides among students — have all given an impetus to the DMK to position itself as the saviour of the Tamil cause once again.
The DMK was able to successfully whip up public sentiment against the Centre-sponsored projects whether relating to methane/GAIL project or NEET, and also build a strong front against the BJP and its ally, the AIADMK, resulting in a near-complete sweep of Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
In the past one year, the Centre’s relentless pursuit of its agenda like One Nation One Tax, One Nation One Card, the insistence on the three-language formula and the refusal to compensate states with regard to GST have helped the DMK project the tussle as a struggle between authoritarianism and egalitarianism. The excessive use of centralisation, using the coronavirus situation, has come in for sharp criticism in states like Tamil Nadu. The use of T-shirts to promote the Tamil identity as against Hindi imposition have gone viral on social media, indicating the dent in the image of the national party at the Centre. On the economic front, the thrust given by the Centre for greater privatisation of railways and aviation sectors in Tamil Nadu among other states has provided fodder to the opposition campaign in the state that the NDA is pursuing an agenda that is in support of corporates.
The DMK has also found to its advantage that there are several parties like the Left, Congress, MDMK and VCK, which are equally upset over the Centre’s policies, resulting in a consolidation and metamorphosis into a cohesive anti-BJP front in Tamil Nadu. The DMK-led alliance that dominated the 2019 Lok Sabha polls is in fact, looking for a repeat performance in the 2021 assembly polls, while its principal opponents are in disarray. The AIADMK does not see eye to eye with the BJP on many issues like GST, NEET, the language formula and the NEP, and clearly does not want the political fallout to affect it. Another ally, the PMK, too has been critical of the BJP on NEET, reservation policy and the three language formula.
With the BJP leadership and its nominees in the government pushing their agenda, the DMK gets plenty of ammunition to sustain its propaganda. But the DMK has been keen to shy away from contentious issues that could give it an anti-Hindu, anti-nationalism tag. The DMK has suffered by carrying such baggage in the past but the new dispensation under M K Stalin does not want to provide any opportunity to the BJP. The DMK has been quick to condemn the Karuppar Koottam propaganda, while also making a departure from the past with an Independence Day event at its headquarters. The DMK’s support to guest workers who suffered during the lockdown, has prevented the BJP and the AIADMK from painting the DMK as a party opposed to non-Tamils.
With assembly elections only a few months away, the DMK believes it is sitting pretty on a strong edifice of opposition unity, with clarity on the chief ministerial candidate, M K Stalin. Its opponents, the AIADMK, BJP and PMK have not been able to project a CM candidate as each party has ambitions of its own. The BJP has even been hinting at putting up a separate front. Even within the AIADMK, the leaders have decided to put off the chief ministership issue to prevent a fresh bout of groupism, as seen in early 2017. It is advantage DMK. (The writer is a veteran journalist)
What is in store for Tamil Nadu
DMK-led front CM probable MK Stalin (a unanimous choice). The alliance partners are Congress, CPI, CPM, VCK, IUML, MMK
PMK Anbumani Ramadoss propped as a CM probable in 2016, may have ambitions
AIADMK-led front Supporters of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam from the AIADMK are trying to push their own leader. Allies havent declared support for any CM candidate.
BJP The saffron party is undecided and has hinted at a separate front based on political situation. There are speculations of Rajinikanth also being roped in.
DMDK In 2016, Vijayakanth was projected as CM candidate. This time there has been no decision yet
