Post the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi and the resultant leadership vacuum, democracy has lost its remaining semblance of civility
Beejankuram, meaning embryo, is the name of a Malayalam short story written way back in the 1970s by Vadakke Koottala Narayanankutty Nair (popularly known as VKN), the czar of laughter. The protagonist, Payyan, a member of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), goes to a theatre in the village to watch a movie starring MG Ramachandran (MGR). A sword fight was on between MGR and the villain. Payyan, who became tense, lit a beedi and started smoking. In the process, he could not control himself and coughed once. MGR, who lost concentration, turned towards Payyan and asked him to get out of the theatre. The latter, who felt humiliated, came out of the theatre and went back to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
Readers must be wondering what this story has to do with present-day politics in Tamil Nadu. The truth is that politics in this State did not emerge out of the scenario as portrayed by VKN through this short story. Ever since the AIADMK released its list of candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on April 18, four leaders crossed over to the DMK. The reason behind this was that they were denied tickets and hence, they decided to punish the parent by joining hands with the rival.
During the 2016 Assembly election, there were four fronts who were running for power. First, the AIADMK-led front, which included some fringe and letterhead organisations. Second, the DMK-led UPA, which included the Congress and some caste-based parties. Third, the BJP-led NDA. And fourth, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), which included the Left, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Tamil Maanila Congress. Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi was fighting it alone and he himself became the chief ministerial candidate. The fourth front’s chief ministerial candidate was Vijayakanth.
It is known that traditionally the AIADMK and the DMK have been rivals. Politics in Tamil Nadu revolves around enmity between these two Dravidian parties. During the 2016 Assembly election, the DMDK-led front was campaigning, targeting the DMK as well as the AIADMK. Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa and their political outfits were corrupt and communal, shouted Vaiko and all the leaders of the front. Vijayakanth was the embodiment of all that was good and divine. M K Stalin, too, came under attack.
Well by 2019, the political landscape in Tamil Nadu underwent a major change as AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi left the scene in quick succession. Post Jayalalithaa’s death, the AIADMK suffered a split with TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of Jayalalithaa’s close confidante Sasikala, breaking away and forming a new party, the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). But with the passing away of Karunanidhi, the DMK and its chosen heir MK Stalin (Karunanidhi’s second son by his second wife Dayalu) turned out to be “a saviour of democracy and pluralism”, claimed Vaiko. The latter also took an oath in public that his mission was to anoint Stalin as the Chief Minister of the State.
Meanwhile, Dhinakaran, with help from his Mannargudi clan, began the process of hijacking the AIADMK. He was nowhere in the picture when Jayalalithaa was hale and hearty. It was only after her demise on December 5, 2016, that Dhinakaran appeared from nowhere and the media in Tamil Nadu started singing “Amen” to him. Dhinakaran was the “man in a hurry” and dreamt of becoming the Chief Minister. He filed the nomination from RK Nagar Assembly constituency, which was represented by Jayalalithaa till her death.
The bypoll scheduled in April 2017 had to be called off in the eleventh hour following the seizure of a large amount of unaccounted cash from Vijay Bhaskar, Tamil Nadu Minister for Health. The Income Tax department alleged that this money was meant for distribution among the voters in RK Nagar. Though Stalin had claimed that the DMK would defeat the AIADMK in the byelection, the candidate he fielded against Dhinakaran was a political lightweight. Shimla Muthuchozhanm — the DMK candidate from TK Nagar in the 2016 Assembly election, who gave a scare to the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa by bringing the latter’s margin of victory to almost half of what she received in the 2015 byelection — was nowhere to be seen for the 2017 bypoll.
By the time the Election Commission scheduled the rescinded byelection, AIADMK had eased out Dhinakaran from the party and O Panneerselvan and Edappady Palaniswamy, the current Chief Minister, buried the hatchet and stood united. Though Dhinakaran won the byelection, what surprised all was the DMK forfeiting its security deposit. While Shimla had polled 57, 673 votes in the 2016 Assembly election against Jayalalithaa, the new candidate of the DMK, Maruthu Ganesh, could poll just 24, 651 votes in the bypoll. Where did the remaining 33,000 votes of the DMK, a cadre party whose votes are like a safe deposit, go?
The DMK wanted to hasten the disintegration of the AIADMK and it succeeded in this strategy. Though Dhinakaran is being projected as the new star of Tamil Nadu politics, we must wait for the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the subsequent bypolls to know the capability and acceptability of Sasikala’s nephew. He is being projected by a section of the media as the rightful heir of Jayalalithaa. But till now, he has not impressed anybody with his organisational skills or oratorical prowess. Moreover, he is listed as an accused by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in cases of money laundering and violation of FERA.
While the AIADMK and the BJP have joined hands, they hold differences of opinion. The former is totally against a Uniform Civil Code as well as triple talaq. It is also against the NEET and the Union Government’s decision to enact a legislation to introduce the Common Entrance Examination across the country for engineering college admissions. The party also wants the Centre to retrieve the Katchatheevu islet, which was ceded to Sri Lanka by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. It is certain that the BJP Government would not budge an inch from its stance on all these issues.
The same is the case with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA). It may sound strange that SPA means a place where people go in order to become healthier through exercises, eating special food and other such activities. But this is the dictionary meaning of SPA. The constituents of the SPA in Tamil Nadu are badly in need of a “spa” service if their present situation is any indication. None of them has representation in the Lok Sabha. All of them are fighting for political survival. The VCK, a Dalit militant outfit, has no representation in the Lok Sabha or Assembly. The Leftists, too, are out of work since 2014. For them it is a fight for survival.
The DMK wants the Centre to release the seven accused, who are serving life-term in jail in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The DMK’s argument is that since the accused have served more than 20 years in jail, they should be set free. But there are no such rules in India, according to legal experts. A life-term sentence means imprisonment for the entire life and there can never be any different opinion over it.
In its 2014 election manifesto, the Congress had declared that it would ban Jallikkattu, the taming of bull sport held in connection with the Pongal festivities, but was in the forefront, demanding the lifting of a ban on it imposed by the Supreme Court. Everything associated with Tamil Nadu politics is contradictory. Politicians, who till the other day were at each other’s throats, were hugging each other the moment the Election Commission declared the poll schedule. A political party, which was in serious seat-sharing discussion with the AIADMK, was also in simultaneous negotiations with the DMK! With a section of the media, too, joining the race in the electoral battle, democracy has lost its remaining semblance of civility. Yes, politics in Tamil Nadu has turned out to be a comedy of errors. A comedy, which will make you only laugh. So, the original play retains its charm and spirit.
(The writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer)
