There used to be a time when DMK chief M Karunanidhi used to deliver electrifying speeches, a rave among party cadre. There was a time when people used to wait for hours to listen to what Karunanidhi had to say. His speeches packed with anecdotes, stories and erudition were a treat to the ears.
Not anymore. Age has caught up to him. The accompanying photograph which appeared in a popular Tamil weekly Junior Vikatan says it all. Though Dayalu Ammal, his second wife, used to accompany him in most of the election campaigns in the past, this time around it was the ever-watchful Rajathi Ammal, his third wife, who gave him company. Dayalu Ammal is ailing and sick and it is for Rajathi to take care of the 91-year-old party patriarch during campaign meetings.
Every 10 or 15 minutes, Rajathi Ammal, wipes the sweat off the balding pate of her “Annan” with cold towels to keep him cool and comfortable. The DMK president had to refer to the sheaf of papers as memory too has started failing him. The sight of a wheelchair bound Karunanidhi , whose scintillating speeches used to resemble a rhythmic rainfall with the accompanying winds and thunders, searching for words and his voice getting chocked with emotions upset his ardent fans all over the State.
The fight between Alagiri and Stalin, his two sons, for the control of the party, the 2G spectrum scam in which his daughter Kanimozhi and party leader A Raja are the prime accused and the cases against his grand nephew Dayanidhi Maran are haunting the Kalaignar (Tamil for the ultimate artist; for DMK cadre, Karunanidhi is second only to Saint Thiruvalluvar!).
The Kalaignar’s dreams for staging a comeback after the drubbing he received in the hands of the Amma of the AIADMK (Jayalalithaa) in 2011 may not bear fruits in the near future. The DMK is yet to taste a victory after its defeat in that assembly elections. If the present scenario is any prelude of things to come in the 2016 Assembly election, Karunanidhi ,may have to leave the stage, dejected, dispirited, and disappointed.