The shock defeats of the party candidate as well as the Congress candidate supported by it in the Assembly bypolls at Vikravandi and Naguneri has shocked the DMK leadership. The DMK’s reversal of fortunes come hardly six months after it swept the Lok Sabha election decimating the AIADMK-led front has come as a surprise to the political commentators also.
“This was something which was waiting to happen after the decision of the leadership to field sons, daughter and grand children of party veterans. The cadre who have been with the party for decades and senior leaders were ignored during the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The coronation of Udhayanidhi, son of party president M K Stalin, as the second in command has not gone well with party’s leaders and cadre,” said a senior DMK leader who did not want to be named.
He described it as the Congressisation of the DMK. “Stalin’s appointment as party president itself was not a correct decision. It was a coterie surrounding Stalin which decided to appoint him as party chief. They were rewarded at the time of Lok Sabha elections by Stalin who fielded their sons, daughter and close relations as candidates,” said the leader who was a close confidante of former party president and former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
Referring to the people wielding power in the district units of the DMK, he said many of them were from the AIADMK who crossed over to the party after the demise of Jayalalithaa in search of greener pasture. “There are others like KKSSR Ramachandran, Selva Ganapathy who are known as the AIADMK diasporas,” he said.
The leader also said the inclusion of the Vaiko-led MDMK and the VCK led by Thirumavalavan too has boomeranged on the party. “Both Vaiko and Thirumavalavan do not fit well with the kind of politics practiced by the DMK . While Vaiko was spitting venom at the DMK and Stalin some two months before his inclusion in the front, Thirumavaalavan speaks, breaths and consumes caste. His speeches against one particular community has misfired and the DMK had to pay the price,” he said.
Vaiko alleged that the AAIADMK misused the entire government machinery in Nanguneri and Vikravandi. “The results of these by-polls alone cannot considered to be a reflection of the mood in Tamil Nadu,” said Vaiko reacting to the loss of the constituencies to the AIADMK.
Raveendran Doraisamy, a keen observer of the DMK, said that the bout was between two lacklustre leaders (Stalin and Edappadi Palaniswami) in which the man with power romped home. “Stalin has been weakened because of the AIADMK wresting the two seats. We have to wait for the results of the election to the local bodies before making any assessment about what the future holds for the DMK.
The alliance partners like the Congress, the Lefts and VCK are certain to exert pressure on Stalin to part with more seats,” said Doraisamy.