In TN, rumblings of a familiar turmoil

For the past week, a turmoil in Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena has been at the centre of the nation’s attention but deeper south, a similar tussle is roiling Tamil Nadu (TN)’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Built in the image of the late MG Ramachandran and later, J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK found itself in crisis after the latter died in 2016. Its response, post a short-lived attempt by VK Sasikala to take over, was to constitute a dual leadership model under former chief minister (CM) E Palaniswami and his deputy, O Panneerselvam. The arrangement ensured the government’s survival for the full term, and though its loss in the 2021 state election was largely a forgone conclusion, the party managed to defend its citadel of western TN.

But now, it appears that Mr Palaniswami’s followers want Mr Panneerselvam’s followers out. In response, the former deputy CM secured a 4 am high court order to restrain the party’s general council from scrapping the dual leadership. The discussion has been stalled for now but the animosity is simmering, hurting a party that is sputtering in taking on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The parallels with Maharashtra are many. A regional powerhouse finding itself rudderless, its strongholds eroding at the hands of rivals and internal chaos distracting it from political challenges. At a time when the AIADMK should have been checking the DMK’s advance (the ruling party made historic gains in local body polls), it is consumed by conflict. And, it underlines the challenge faced by regional forces in transforming from personality or family-led institutions into organisation-driven outfits.