MK Stalin (62), the DMK youth wing president and the chosen heir of party supremo M Karunanidhi, launched the campaign of the DMK for the 2016 Assembly election from Kanyakumari, the southern tip of Tamil Nadu on Monday.
Accompanied by wife Santha Durga, Stalin offered special prayers at Kanyakumari Temple, St Xavier’s Cathedral and Juma Masjid before he sounded the campaign bugle.
Stalin visited Sri Vivekananda ashram and sought the blessings of Swami Chaitanyanandaaji, the head of the Mutt before hitting the campaign trail. The visit to the ashram was kept as secret affair by his personal security. Journalists and photographers were kept at bay as Stalin accompanied by his wife and former BJP leader Velayudham visited the ashram.
John Nicholson, a former DIG in Tamil Nadu Police, declared his entry into the DMK, in the presence of Stalin. Interestingly, Stalin had launched the DMK’s 2014 lok Sabha election campaign from Kanyakumari itself though the party drew a blank in that election, losing all the seats it contested.
Ramakrishnan (43) was in for a surprise when Stalin hired his auto for a drive along the lanes in Kanyakumari. “He was wearing pants and full-sleeve shirt. He asked me how was life and whether I am making sufficient money for running the family. The public response has been overwhelming,” Ramakrishnan told The Pioneer.
Stalin will tour all the assembly constituencies in the State and interact with people across the societies. The party has made elaborate arrangements to make the campaign a grand affair. For the DMK, it is a do or die battle as the party has been defeated in all the elections since 2011.
The campaign was launched at a time when the DMK finds itself attacked from all sides from its former allies like the MDMK, CPI (M), CPI and PMK. The MDMK and DMDK are annoyed with the DMK leadership for the latter’s attempt to break the parties by poaching some of the prominent leaders. Vaiko, the MDMK chief was shocked when Kumari Vijayakumar, his long time confidante and one of the colourful personalities, switched over her loyalty to the DMK last week. A visibly upset Vaiko blamed Stalin for trying to break the DMK.
There are reports in the vernacular media that the DMK has targeted the DMDK too. “If its efforts to make Vijayakant join the alliance fail, the DMK would ensure that prominent leaders of the DMDK join the party. Since the DMDK is run by Vijayakant like a family property, chances of some leaders crossing over to the DMK could not be ruled out. The last five years saw the DMDK getting weaker than what it was in 2009,” said Ramesh Sethuraman, political analyst.
As on Tuesday, except for the Congress, the MMK ( an Islamic outfit) and Puthiya Tamilagam (a Dalit outfit), no other major parties were willing to join the DMK bandwagon. Though the leaders of the CPI(M) criticise the DMK and the AIADMK on a daily basis, chances of them aligning with Karunanidhi could not be ruled out as the CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury who has good personal equation with the DMK patriarch, is serious about forming a secular democratic alliance against the “communal” BJP.