From ‘commander’ to chief, he rose through the ranks

CHENNAI: Named after the Soviet communist dictator Josef Stalin, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin was not the original heir apparent of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. He is Karunanidhi’s third son from his second wife, Dayalu Ammal.

Initially M K Muthu, Stalin’s step-brother from Karunanidhi’s first wife, Padmavathi, was being groomed as his successor. Muthu, however, defected to the AIADMK .

Stalin started his political career with the Gopalapuram Maanavar Mandram (Gopalapuram student’s forum). During the Emergency, Stalin, then 23, was arrested under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1976 and jailed.

Apart from his father, Stalin often credits former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who declared the Emergency, for bringing him into politics by having him arrested under MISA.

“It was a shock to party cadres to see the name of Stalin in the party mouthpiece, Murasoli, arrested under MISA,” recalls D Ravikumar, general secretary, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.

Stalin worked hard to build the DMK youth wing and became its secretary in 1984. He was granted a DMK ticket to contest the assembly elections in 1984, but first won in 1989 from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. He was mayor of Chennai Corporation from 1996 to 2001.

When the DMK regained power in 2006, he was made the local administration minister in his father’s cabinet. Within the party, too, his stars had been rising. In 2003, he was elevated as deputy general secretary, considered the fourth most powerful post in the party. In 2008, he took over as treasurer of the DMK.

In 2009, Karunanidhi appointed Stalin as deputy chief minister. In 2017, the DMK’S by-laws were changed to make him the working president.

Ahead of the 2016 assembly elections, Stalin also known as Thalapathy, led the ‘Namakku Naame’ (We for Ourselves) campaign. The DMK, however, could bag only 89 of the 234 seats and the AIADMK won. The result was seen as a setback to Stalin’s leadership abilities.

Since 2016, the DMK has lost four by-elections. With his elder brother, Azhagiri unfurling a banner of revolt against him, Stalin has to prove that he has what it takes to keep the party together and lead it to electoral victory. NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi was among the first political leaders to congratulate MK Stalin after he took over as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’S chief on Tuesday.

“Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey,” Gandhi tweeted.

The two leaders are known to share a good rapport. The relations between the two parties have improved since the DMK quit the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after almost nine years in March 2013.

The DMK had quit the alliance over the then Manmohan Singh government’s “failure to prevent the watering down” of a UN resolution against Sri Lankan over human rights abuses.

The ties between the two parties were also strained over the allegations of corruption against the DMK leaders in the allocation of 2G-spectrum.

DMK’S loss to the AIADMK in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls forced it to align with the Congress again for the 2016 assembly polls. The tie-up remains firm and the two parties have indicated that they will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together.

Gandhi was among the leaders invited to celebrate Karunanidhi’s 94th birthday in June last year. After the event, Gandhi made it a point to spend time at Stalin’s residence. Gandhi had posed with Stalin’s grandchildren for pictures.

When Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on women’s reservation bill in July this year, Stalin promptly extended his support to the move.

With the elevation of Stalin, a status quo is expected in the Dmk-congress relations given that both the parties are wary of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s inroads into Tamil Nadu.

For his part, Gandhi has asked the state leaders to strengthen the party at the grassroots level, but also made it clear that the Congress was willing to play second fiddle to the DMK at least for now.

STALIN OFTEN CREDITS FORMER PM INDIRA GANDHI FOR BRINGING HIM INTO POLITICS BY HAVING HIM ARRESTED UNDER MISA IN 1976