Stalin, the new southern star
BJP holds on to its eastern bastion in Assam; NDA wins Puducherry with NR Congress
CHENNAI: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance won the Tamil Nadu elections with a degree of comfort, giving DMK chief MK Sta lin ,68, an opportunity to finally fill the role he has been training for since his teens.
Although Stalin was destined to be Karunanidhi’s political heir, his journey wasn’t easy. Stalin lost his first electoral outing in 1984 from Chennai’s Thousand Lights assembly constituency but won the seat in 1989. For years, Stalin and his now estranged brother MK Alagiri jockeyed for power. But Stalin was able to win the trust of his party cadre.
He led the DMK to a sweeping win in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but it is his latest win that will likely cement his standing as an icon of Dravidian politics.
Tamil Nadu lost two of its biggest leaders , J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, in the past five years, leaving behind a political vacuum. The answer as to who will fill this may well be provided by this assembly poll. MK Stalin, Karunanidhi’s son, who has waited for over four decades for his opportunity to claim political leadership, will finally be the chief minister of one of India’s most important states (in terms of size, political strength, social development indicators, and economic resources). Stalin’s quiet leadership style, smart alliance management, and consistent organisational work has paid off. But in a sign that the electorate remains divided, chief minister E K Palaniswami put up a credible performance, on the back of a better than average governance record. Like Banerjee, Stalin, too will have to tackle the state’s Covid challenge as soon as he takes over.