New Year 2013 has announced itself with a roar in Tamil Nadu – the roar of an octogenarian politician sounding a highly complex and ticklish succession bugle.
A question which had been asked for many years now suddenly has an answer and fittingly in the hoary cinematic traditions of the state, the drama in the new year was scripted by none other than DMK patriarch Muthuvel Karunanidhi when he put his stamp of approval on his political successor by naming his third and favourite son Stalin.
“Till my last breath I will work for the upliftment of society. To the question as to who will carry on this work after me, you should not forget Stalin, who is sitting here,” said Karunanidhi, his emotions barely in check, while delivering a speech at a party function in Chennai, evoking loud and thunderous applause from the Dravida Munetra Kazagham (DMK) cadres present.
In a state where the Karunanidhi family essentially constitutes the DMK, the battle of succession in Tamil Nadu's first political family is a keenly contested affair. Coming from the grand patriarch himself, the naming of Stalin is being seen as a signal that of all of his inheritors – and Karunanidhi has many – it is only current DMK treasurer who has the capability to lead the party and the government. Except for Karunanidhi's second son and the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, MK Alagiri, who did not hide his obvious disgruntlement, the rest of the DMK rank and file has fallen in line for now. “DMK is not a shankara mutt for anybody to nominate,” Madurai-based Alagiri said in statement smacking of sarcasm. For good measure, the Union minister and DMK leader hit back and added that he would not accept anybody except his father as leader, making it clear that Stalin has a battle on hand if he thought a mere nomination by his father and supreme leader was enough to clear the way for him to assume the mantle of leadership for all times to come.
According to insiders, though silent, senior party men have strongly advised the Union minister not to react adversely. “Kalignar or Karunanidhi is the final authority and we abide by his decisions. All we ask is due to respect for Alagiri,” a veteran DMK functionary and Alagiri supporter told TSI.
However, Alagiri has chosen to lie low for the time being, hemmed in by son Durainidhi’s alleged involvement in the granite scam in Tamil Nadu.
Born four days after the death of Joseph Stalin, the great Soviet Communist dictator, Karunanidhi's third son was christened after him. The Tamil Stalin, his father's political shadow, has preferred to maintain a stoic silence and has chosen not to react to his father's statement or even his brother's outburst.
Not without reason. Karunanidhi, who is credited for successfully scripting screenplay for theatre, cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu for more than a half a century, has been equally successful in scripting son Stalin’s succession for more than two decades now.
A lot of it was in evidence last fortnight. The DMK chief played Chanakya to perfection, enlisting the support of nonagenarian party general secretary K Anbazhagan to propose Stalin’s name; all that he did was to second it, on the sidelines of a meeting of DMK district secretaries. Smart move.
Anbazhagan, who was present at the media conference, said if he proposed Stalin’s name, the others would have no option but to toe the party line. “The party president cannot reject the proposal,” Anbazhagan asserted. He should know. Asked whether he would stay away from contesting the forthcoming organisational polls, Anbazhagan declared he was not certain if he would be around till then!
The man named to succeed Karunanidhi is by no means a greenhorn. Stalin took to the political arena in 1967 as a 14-year-old participating in the anti-Hindi agitation sweeping the state, an agitation that also saw the ouster of the Congress party from St George Fort in the assembly elections. He campaigned for uncle Murasoli Maran, who was contesting for a Lok Sabha seat.
A graduate from the Presidency College in 1973, Stalin was inducted into DMK’s general council. After dismissal of the party government by the Centre on charges of corruption and imposition of the Emergency in 1977, both Karunanidhi and Stalin were among the front line DMK leaders arrested.
A question which had been asked for many years now suddenly has an answer and fittingly in the hoary cinematic traditions of the state, the drama in the new year was scripted by none other than DMK patriarch Muthuvel Karunanidhi when he put his stamp of approval on his political successor by naming his third and favourite son Stalin.
“Till my last breath I will work for the upliftment of society. To the question as to who will carry on this work after me, you should not forget Stalin, who is sitting here,” said Karunanidhi, his emotions barely in check, while delivering a speech at a party function in Chennai, evoking loud and thunderous applause from the Dravida Munetra Kazagham (DMK) cadres present.
In a state where the Karunanidhi family essentially constitutes the DMK, the battle of succession in Tamil Nadu's first political family is a keenly contested affair. Coming from the grand patriarch himself, the naming of Stalin is being seen as a signal that of all of his inheritors – and Karunanidhi has many – it is only current DMK treasurer who has the capability to lead the party and the government. Except for Karunanidhi's second son and the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, MK Alagiri, who did not hide his obvious disgruntlement, the rest of the DMK rank and file has fallen in line for now. “DMK is not a shankara mutt for anybody to nominate,” Madurai-based Alagiri said in statement smacking of sarcasm. For good measure, the Union minister and DMK leader hit back and added that he would not accept anybody except his father as leader, making it clear that Stalin has a battle on hand if he thought a mere nomination by his father and supreme leader was enough to clear the way for him to assume the mantle of leadership for all times to come.
According to insiders, though silent, senior party men have strongly advised the Union minister not to react adversely. “Kalignar or Karunanidhi is the final authority and we abide by his decisions. All we ask is due to respect for Alagiri,” a veteran DMK functionary and Alagiri supporter told TSI.
However, Alagiri has chosen to lie low for the time being, hemmed in by son Durainidhi’s alleged involvement in the granite scam in Tamil Nadu.
Born four days after the death of Joseph Stalin, the great Soviet Communist dictator, Karunanidhi's third son was christened after him. The Tamil Stalin, his father's political shadow, has preferred to maintain a stoic silence and has chosen not to react to his father's statement or even his brother's outburst.
Not without reason. Karunanidhi, who is credited for successfully scripting screenplay for theatre, cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu for more than a half a century, has been equally successful in scripting son Stalin’s succession for more than two decades now.
A lot of it was in evidence last fortnight. The DMK chief played Chanakya to perfection, enlisting the support of nonagenarian party general secretary K Anbazhagan to propose Stalin’s name; all that he did was to second it, on the sidelines of a meeting of DMK district secretaries. Smart move.
Anbazhagan, who was present at the media conference, said if he proposed Stalin’s name, the others would have no option but to toe the party line. “The party president cannot reject the proposal,” Anbazhagan asserted. He should know. Asked whether he would stay away from contesting the forthcoming organisational polls, Anbazhagan declared he was not certain if he would be around till then!
The man named to succeed Karunanidhi is by no means a greenhorn. Stalin took to the political arena in 1967 as a 14-year-old participating in the anti-Hindi agitation sweeping the state, an agitation that also saw the ouster of the Congress party from St George Fort in the assembly elections. He campaigned for uncle Murasoli Maran, who was contesting for a Lok Sabha seat.
A graduate from the Presidency College in 1973, Stalin was inducted into DMK’s general council. After dismissal of the party government by the Centre on charges of corruption and imposition of the Emergency in 1977, both Karunanidhi and Stalin were among the front line DMK leaders arrested.
Sudhangan, a Chennai-based veteran journalist, believes several senior leaders who could have challenged Stalin’s position in the party are either no more or too old to be active. Some have been over the years systematically sidelined or have quit DMK to float their own outfit. One such leader and a good orator was V Gopalswamy or Vaiko who quit DMK in 1990’s to start his own MDMK.
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