‘He never compromised on his values’
H.D. Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister, reflects on M. Karunanidhi.
FORMER Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s close observation of politicians in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu goes back decades, to the early 1980s, when he was the Karnataka Minister for Public Works and Irrigation in both the Ramakrishna Hegde and S.R. Bommai governments. And one politician who had always impressed Deve Gowda was former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and stalwart of the Dravidian movement M. Karunanidhi. The octogenarian former Prime Minister reflected on his interactions with Karunanidhi.
The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and one of the pillars of the Dravidian movement, M. Karunanidhi, has passed away. What are the thoughts that come to your mind immediately about him?
He was one of the seniormost leaders from the southern part of this country, a five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Please understand this. He was a man from a rural background, but he was able to run a major political party uninterrupted for 50 years. This is no easy task. That is the level of confidence that the party and the party workers had in him. He even fought his political battles from a wheelchair. And, I would like to state quite frankly and categorically that what is even more important is that right from the time the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam [DMK] split [in 1972], all his followers, right from the lowest village level to the highest echelons of the party, never ever left him. Even when he was out of power, even when he went to prison, or when members of his family faced corruption charges, even when he was incapacitated and had to carry on from a wheelchair, no one ditched him. This was the biggest gift that the party workers gave him. This is also an indication of the maturity of his leadership. He was a leader who never compromised on his values. Karunanidhi was a five-time Chief Minister but he never aspired for a role in the national government.
Yes, he never aspired for office in Delhi. But his service to the nation in supporting and providing stable coalition governments that successfully ran the country cannot be forgotten. This he achieved through two coalition governments, the National Democratic Alliance, headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, and the United Progressive Alliance government of Manmohan Singh, in 2004 and 2009. Both these coalition governments were stable, thanks to Karunanidhi’s political wisdom, maturity and support.
Being one of the tallest leaders from the south, he could have aspired for a role at the Centre.
he wanted was a slot next to Anna after his death. He shared this desire with many people, including this correspondent, the poet Vairamuthu and his daughter Kanimozhi.
He also shared it with S. Ramasundaram, former Secretary to Government, Tamil Nadu. In his words:
“One late night, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.) in 2010, he was in the portico of the New Assembly, chatting with me on a range of issues and picking my brain, as usual. His daily companions, Ministers Durai Murugan, Ponmudi, had all left. Suddenly he said, ‘Anna Samadhikku pogalam’ [Let’s go to Anna Samadhi]. It was just two of us at Anna Samadhi and a few city police constables who were on duty there. We sat on two plastic chairs and one of the constables brought two glasses of tea.