At 95, Karunanidhi still DMK’S biggest draw
CHENNAI: Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the patriarch of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, turned 95 on Sunday, and at least some analysts believe he remains the key to Tamil Nadu politics.
Karunanidhi, who has been a partner of both the BJP and the Congress, will be the person who chooses sides in the 2019 elections, and early indications, based on the public utterances of his son and political heir (in waiting) MK Stalin, are that he is leaning towards the Congress and the federal-front-in-the-making. Tamil Nadu sends 39 members to the Lok Sabha. Analysts say that he also remains relevant in Tamil Nadu, although elections are not due in the state till 2021.
Actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have recently jumped into the political arena but many believe that the two most important people in Tamil Nadu right now, from the political perspective, are TTV Dhinakaran of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, and Karunanidhi.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress presi- dent Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamta Bannerjee were among those who greeted the Dravidian leader. Last year, Modi paid Karunanidhi a surprise visit to enquire after his health.
DMK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, geared up for the gala event by holding a three-day celebration, which started on Friday at Thiruvarur, the birth place of Karunanidhi, and concluded in Chennai on Sunday. However, for Karunanidhi himself it was just a day with family members and a few select party loyalists. Cadres thronged the street outside his house in Chennai’s central Gopalapuram area to catch a glimpse of their ailing leader.
The DMK, which is out of power both in the Centre and the state, still needs the charisma of its ageing leader to rally the masses, exposing the dearth of leadership depth in the party, say analysts. Murasoli, the party’s newspaper, dedicated its Sunday edition to the leader.
“The sentence
(my siblings, who are dearer to me than my life), one of Karunanidhi’s preferred ways of opening speeches, is famous among par- tymen and the kind of response it generates during public meeting is electric,” says Saidapet DMK MLA M Subramanian.
“He is an institution and there is no match for his administrative skills. He has the habit of reading all English dailies. The state ministers and city mayors would get calls by 6am if there was any negative news related to their portfolio,” recalls Subramanian who served Chennai as it mayor.
Its been almost two years, though, since Karunanidhi spoke last in public and the party cadres are still awaiting to hear him, he adds. He claims that if Karunanidhi, once a popular scriptwriter for Tamil movies, starts addressing the public again, actorsturned-politicians Rajinikanth and Haasan will become irrelevant in the state.
“Though our leader is not in any shape to speak, the Tamil people still speak about him. His political innings dates back to the colonial era and he is the reason for the growth and the continuity of this party,” says another DMK MLA Thayagam Kavi.
Expectedly, opponents see Karunanidhi as a relic of the past.
Formermlakuseenivasanof the AIADMK says Karunanidhi is not relevant to the current political scenario. “He is the root cause for all problems in Tamil Nadu. The DMK gave expansion permissions to Sterlite and it was during his chief ministership that the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu on Katchatheevu island were ceded to Sri Lanka.”
“Today, there is no AIADMK founder MGR or Amma (Jayalalithaa) and without the hero there is no role for a villain,” he adds.
Meme creators had a field day on Sunday, poking fun at Karunanidhi’s designated heir Stalin on his endless wait to ascend the DMK throne. Thousands also took to social media to greet the TN leader. Birthday tweets for Karunanidhi trended for a few hours. Karunanidhi has contested in 12 assembly polls and personally never lost an election. At the age of 33, he entered the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, representing Kulithalai constituency. He was elected five times as the CM of Tamil Nadu.