Sir — The great survivor of Tamil Nadu politics, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Karunanidhi was an eloquent orator, a Tamil writer of repute, indomitable publisher and an all-weather political strategist. His party was opposed to Hindi on grounds of its unworthiness as a language to acquire modern, useful and progressive knowledge — knowledge of science, technology and rational thought. English was, therefore, the ideal language and Hindi was seen to offer little in this regard. Rather than demanding Tamil in the place of Hindi, their demand was always been on use of English to learn and communicate.
Though Karunanidhi was jailed several times during his long political innings, what shocked many was his midnight arrest by the Jayalalithaa regime in 2001 on corruption charges. Karunanidhi’s colourful career had its darker corners. The commission on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination had harsh words for his Government’s role in nurturing the lTTE.
Without Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu politics will never be the same. The new entrants cannot be in the class of Karunanidhi or Jayalalithaa who were case studies. Since last year, after Jayalalithaa’s death and Karunanidhi’s retirement, the two principal Dravidian parties have been floundering. A rudderless All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam with its many claimants for the mantle is still in disarray. Chief Minister Palaniswami, deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and breakaway faction chief TTV Dhinakaran are far less charismatic. This leadership crisis could pave the way for alternatives.