DMK wins Tamil Nadu: Stalin's moment under the sun

The ‘son’ has risen in Tamil Nadu. In the first assembly elections fought without party patriarch M Karunanidhi, MK Stalin has led DMK to a victory.

He has not only ended AIADMK’s 10-year reign but paved the way for finally, beyond any doubt, emerging out of his father’s shadow.

Signs of DMK’s resurgence under Stalin were first seen in 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the party and its allies won 38 out of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.

One of AIADMK’s constant charge against the DMK has been of dynastic politics but Stalin is not an heir who has been air dropped. Karunanidhi groomed him into one over years and many political analysts say that the late DMK supremo should have let Stalin take over earlier.

Stalin held various positions in the party and state administration before making it to the top post of the Chief Minister. He started from the grassroots by becoming a ward and then district representative and then moved on to being the party’s youth wing president. He was Chennai’s Mayor in 1996 and earned the moniker of the ‘father of the city’ for his work on building of flyovers, roads and modernisation of the city's garbage collection infrastructure and schools. He has also held the post of deputy chief minister.

The election was bound to be tough for both parties without Dravidian giants J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi but DMK seem to have rallied well to clinch victory despite the void.

AIADMK has, however, had leadership issues immediately after Jayalalithaa’s death and though E Palanisami and O Panneerselvam managed to cobble up a deal, the party has not been able to project a strong leadership.

Add to that the breakaway faction floated by Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dinakaran which cut into AIADMK’s votes.

AIADMK’s alliance with BJP could have cost them a third consecutive term. Politics in Tamil Nadu is done around the Dravidian identity and AIADMK’s perceived subservience to north-based BJP has created an image of a party that is ready to compromise Tamil culture and language for political gains.

The party faced a 10-year anti-incumbency and in attempt to offset it Chief Minister Palanisami mainly focussed on his govt’s achievements, including his govt’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic. He even defended the alliance with the party in power at the Centre by saying that if it brings development to

to Tamil Nadu there is nothing wrong it but not all the party workers agree with him. Several party leaders and workers refused to campaign alongside BJP workers during the campaign and many only campaigned in their constituency. Palanisami and Panneerselvam were the only leaders who canvassed across the state.

DMK and Stalin may have won but they will have little time to celebrate as a resurgent pandemic and a collapsing healthcare system awaits the new govt.