Tamil Nadu Election 2021: In a state exactly where politics is defined by towering personalities, MK Stalin has come a lengthy way. From becoming a foot soldier to the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Stalin has had rather a journey beneath the mentorship of his father K Karunanidhi. But his rise in politics was typically dwarfed by the shadow of the character of Karunanidhi. Besides a politician, Karunanidhi was an artist by heart, and that place him in a distinctive league — he was a novelist, gifted orator, and had a superior command more than Tamil language and literature. In Tamil Nadu, people today who loved literature had been charmed by Kalaignar (artist) — the title people today gave to Karunandhi. On this yardstick, Stalin hardly comes close to his father, will not even pass the simple test of abilities that his father had.
Maalan Narayanan, a senior journalist who has covered Tamil Nadu politics for decades, says that Stalin does not have that oratory abilities and one allegation is that he mainly reads from written speeches. Stalin has, even so, established himself as the leader of DMK in absence of Karunanidhi. He led the party’s campaign in 2016, when the DMK missed the chance pretty narrowly to come back to energy. In that election, even so, the vote share distinction in between DMK and AIADMK was just one per cent. Two titans of Tamil had been nonetheless about, the only distinction was that wheelchair-bound Karunanidhi was not that active although Jayalalitha was heading the AIADMK. The common belief is that the DMK lost the election due to the Congress, which was a large drag on the alliance. Of 41 seats it contested, Congress could win just 8. The DMK, on the other hand, had won 89, 66 more than what it had got in 2011.
Over the years, Stalin has established himself as the undisputed leader of the DMK. But the road was never ever uncomplicated. He very first faced revolt in the loved ones by his elder brother MK Alagiri and later in the DMK by Vaiko. Stalin started his political profession rather early in life. Born in 1953, Stalin was elected to the General Council — the highest selection generating body of DMK — in 1973. He very first shot to fame following going to jail in 1976 throughout the Emergency. Despite being the son of one of the tallest leaders in the South, Stalin faced police brutality in custody and that he took it on his chin gained him public sympathy. In 1982, Stalin became the youth wing secretary of the party, and continued to hold that position for more than 4 decades.
Stalin’s very first electoral results came in 1989 when he won his very first assembly election from Thousand Lights constituency. However, he couldn’t serve as MLA for a complete 5-year term as his government fell a year later. He contested once more from the identical constituency a year later but lost to KA Krishnaswamy of AIADMK. But he wrested back this seat from Krishnaswamy in 1996 and held on to it till 2011. But in 2011, Stalin changed his constituency and moved to Kolathur. He won the Kolathur seat twice, in 2011 and 2016.
During this period, Stalin also held essential positions. He was the Mayor of Chennai city from 1996 to 2002 and very first deputy chief minister of the state from 2009 to 2011. During his time as mayor, Stalin produced roads, flyovers and place city infrastructure in the top rated of his priority list. His efforts in enhancing city infrastructure earned him the title of Managara Thanthai (father of the city). He had grow to be Mayor by people’s vote, as opposed to in any other significant city exactly where elected members vote for the leader. In 2001, Stalin was elected back as mayor but he had to step down due to a law brought in (and produced efficient retrospectively) by then chief minister J Jayalalitha restricting a particular person from holding two positions — Stalin was also an MLA in 2001. Stalin served as rural improvement minister and took a variety of initiatives to strengthen self-enable groups in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin once more led the party in the Lok Sabha in 2019, just a year following Karunanidhi had passed away in August 2018. In the absence of his father, Stalin scored a historic win by bagging 38 of 39 parliamentary seats with more than 52.39 per cent vote share. Stalin took no time to establish his iron fist command more than the party and side-lined these who came in his way (study Vaiko). Now, it seems he would be the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Several opinion polls have predicted a landslide for the DMK.
Narayanan, even so, disagrees. He says Stalin may possibly win but the the fight would be close. Palaniswami, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, he says, picked up in the final leg of his stint. He waived off farm loans and jewel loans – and campaigned effectively. A regional survey showed the chief minister was just two percentage point behind Stalin in terms of recognition. But the time is on his side.
Tamil Nadu voters have so far maintained a tradition of alternating energy in between DMK and AIADMK. AIADMK has been in energy for 10 years, so shouldn’t it be the DMK’s turn to govern? If DMK wins, who ought to one credit, voters or Stalin? There may possibly be a longer wait, probably till 2026 prior to one could get clear answers to these inquiries. If Stalin wins this election, and beats the anti-incumbency in 2026, the answer may possibly not even be required. But if he fails, more energy to Tamil voters who have mastered the craft of extracting maximum dividends (and freebies) by this special blend of shuffle and pause — no leader has come to energy for consecutive second term except for Jayalalitha in 2016 following MGR in 1987.
Professor Ramu Manivanan, Head of Political Department of Madras University, says Stalin has to prove that he can lead the party and carry forward – so it is each for party and leadership. “One of the problems faced by the AIADMK is that they don’t have the proven leadership at the top. So Stalin is able to make that distinction”.
Narayanan says that Stalin may possibly win due to a series of elements like anti-incumbency, leadership vacuum in AIADMK and the ruling party’s alliance with the BJP. But the answer to irrespective of whether he can break away from the shadow of Karunanidhi lies in the future — how he fares throughout this election and how he does in the workplace, if he is elected.
But will Stalin be in a position to make his personal legacy following 2021? To this, Manivanan says the situations and circumstances make a leader, and this was accurate for Karunanidhi as is accurate for Stalin. “Stalin has completely a new challenge, particularly standing up to the BJP. That should make him a leader on his own merit”. That requires one to a different query irrespective of whether it would be fair to evaluate Stalin with Karunanidhi? “No,” says the professor. “Karunanidhi had a history of making compromises with the BJP. But Stalin does not have that kind of circumstances before him to concede and make compromises with the BJP. So that makes him a leader he had to deliver.”
But then there have been inquiries about the leadership abilities of Stalin, several even say that Stalin had been in politics for more than 4 decades but he was declared the leader of the party only in 2013-14. Why did Karunanidhi take so lengthy? Manivanan says that as lengthy as Karunanidhi was the chief minister, “he was conscious and aware of the decisions”.
“Stalin has had considerable experience and exposure in handling the public affairs including as the mayor of Chennai city corporation as well as minister for local government and affairs, he also was deputy chief minister – so this question why Karunanidhi did not handover or make him the chief minister should rest with the fact that Karunandihi himself considered that he was competent to handle the office.”
So exactly where did the ruling party go incorrect? The AIADMK, the professor explains, has been largely controlled and influenced by the BJP. “So we need a leader and party that appears to be governing in control and representing the interest of the state. The AIADMK could have presented a better challenge and resistance to DMK. But the AIADMK spent the last five years in the shadow of the BJP. By that process, it diminished its stake in Tamil Nadu. It has to wait for another five years to rebuild that. Tamil Nadu has a tradition of Dravidian identity and politics. So people really don’t have to share that kind of submissiveness to the BJP in Tamil Nadu.”
However, Narayanan thinks that just attacking BJP will not enable Stalin. If Stalin comes back to energy, the senior journalist says, he will need to have the Centre’s assistance. The state spending budget for salaries and freebies are not sufficient — “he will have to borrow either from the World Bank or the RBI, in both the case, he will need the Centre’s consent. But if he compromises, he would be termed as turncoat. If he doesn’t cooperate, there won’t be any development and Tamil Nadu would become another West Bengal”. Does he want to be in that scenario? Well, it appears he does not have a selection, his choices as chief minister, if he becomes one, will ascertain his legacy. The genuine test of his knack and political acumen starts now.