‘Modi thinks he’s PM of only Hindi heartland’

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief, 68, will contest the Tamil Nadu assembly elections on April 6. While he has been in the electoral fray for decades, this is the first time he will contest as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, bearing the legacy of the Dravidian party after the demise of his father M Karunanidhi in 2018. As he prepares for his biggest battle, Stalin speaks to about his political beliefs and the current electoral situation. Edited excerpts:

MK Stalin, Divya Chandrababu What have you learnt being out of power for a decade?

Whether in power or in the Opposition, I have learnt to work for the welfare of people. It is because the DMK is a party that is always with the people in their joy and sorrow. The DMK was launched not only for power but essentially for social empowerment of the deprived class and the downtrodden in society...

Did you believe that the Edappadi K Palaniswamiled government would complete its term, or are you surprised? He was barely known before 2016; how do you feel that you will be fighting him as your primary rival?

DMK is a party which stands for ideology. We never tried to come to power through the backdoor.

Even during the chaos in AIADMK due to ill health and death of former chief minister (J) Jayalalithaa, DMK clarified time and again that it will not come to power through the backdoor. If you see the massive corruption in the Palaniswami regime and the way in which he allowed his ministers to plunder the treasury, one cannot be surprised at the continuance of Palaniswami government till the end of its term. Even now, he is known only by the advertisement campaigns he has done by spending the government money, and not by his deeds. The people know him now only for his poor performance and failure on all fronts.

What is your view on Narendra Modi? The Bharatiya Janata Party has been investing in infrastructure projects and increasing its booth-level strength to gain a footing in TN. What do you think of its prospects?

Prime Minister Modi is thinking that he is the Prime Minister of only the Hindi heartland. He has no interest in the development of Tamil Nadu and for that matter, any states ruled by non-NDA (National Democratic Alliance) parties. From the beginning, Modi has been only demeaning cooperative federalism and is in a hurry to usurp the power of states. The State List and Concurrent List, which are part of the Constitution, are under constant threat under the BJP regime at the Centre.

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, they used the AIADMK only to communalise the otherwise communally harmonious land of Tamil Nadu. No infrastructure projects have been implemented... The AIIMS at Madurai, announced six years back, is still a non-starter...

If the situation demands, in a post-poll scenario, would you be open to joining hands with the BJP? Your father defended the DMK aligning with BJP between 1999 and 2003. It’s not been a political untouchable.

DMK is the champion of secular values and a party for democracy. How do you expect such a post-poll scenario? DMK will not align with the BJP politically and we are in the secular alliance, led by the Congress nationally.

Do you think the AIADMK’s alliance with BJP is the biggest factor against the ruling party and do you think antiHindi sentiment is still strong in Tamil Nadu?

I have already said that the AIADMK and the BJP are one and the same. Both are disrespecting the sentiments of the young people of Tamil Nadu. Both are depriving lakhs of young people in Tamil Nadu of employment opportunities. Both are destroying the educational opportunities for the young. More than a dozen young girls and boys died by suicide because of the NEET exam but both the AIADMK and the BJP governments remained mute spectators... TN is always opposed to the imposition of Hindi, which ignores and insults our mother tongue — classical Tamil. That sentiment is rampant in the state and it will reflect in the election.

You were 13 when you began organising youth wing functions and you’ve worked your way up . What is your response to the AIADMK-BJP criticism against dynastic politics since your son Udhayanidhi has been appointed as youth wing secretary?

DMK is the family of cadres because they are committed to the noblest Dravidian ideology. When you are wedded to one particular ideology, that too for the upliftment of the people and development of the state, you cannot expect people to switch over to a different party and a different ideology. Adopting a father’s or a father’s party ideology cannot be termed as dynasty politics. Just because he is my son, I cannot compel him to adopt a different ideology...

Are you grooming him the way your father groomed you for politics?

Neither me nor any one else in the party can groom their sons in politics just because they are in the DMK. For growing in the DMK, one has to work hard, reach out to the people and fight for the state’s welfare. The AIADMK and

BJP’s criticism is born out of frustration, aimed to hide their corrupt and communal alliance...

Political observers say that DMK won’t be able to repeat its sweep of 2019 in 2021. What in your assessment has changed or gone wrong after you won 38 of the 39 seats in the 2019 parliamentary elections because, subsequently, your gains in bypolls and civic polls have not been as significant?

Despite blatant misuse of power by the AIADMK government, the people of Tamil Nadu gave us a massive victory in the rural local body election. The AIADMK was rattled... and that is why they did not conduct urban local body elections... The 2019 Parliamentary election victory will be repeated and the DMK and its allies will sweep all the 234 assembly seats.

What are your top priorities if you come to power ?

I have promised that the grievance petitions received from the people during “Stalin in Your Constituency Programme” will be addressed within 100 days of (us) coming to power. That will be my first priority. In Trichy, I announced “Stalin’s Seven Assurances”, a vision document of the DMK for TN for the next 10 years. The DMK manifesto is the hero as usual. Hence, I have clear priorities at my hand. My government will be guided by the noble visions of Perarignar Anna (DMK founder CN Annadurai) and Muthamizharignar Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi).