Karuna leaves behind a political vacuum

With the passing on of DMK patriarch and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, the State is left bereft of an iconic, magnetic political figure. Suddenly there is a big vacuum in the southern State that had stalwarts like Rajaji, the kingmaker Kamaraj, CN Annadurai, who established such firm roots for Dravidian rule in Tamil Nadu that ever since the DMK formed by him came to power in 1967, a non-Dravidian party hasn’t come even within sniffing distance of power in the State.

Congress, which had ruled the State till 1967, has only shrunk, getting sparks of life now and then only when it allies with the Dravidian party of the moment during elections. Karunanidhi was Anna’s protégé, but after Annadurai died of cancer in 1969, just two years into power, he failed to stop matinee idol MG Ramachandran from breaking the DMK to form the ADMK in 1972. After MGR led the ADMK to victory in 1977, his party remained in power with him as chief minister till his death in 1987. J Jayalalithaa emerged as a powerful leader of the party, and retained her hold in Tamil Nadu politics, whether in power or not, till her death 20 months ago.

Take away the names of all these leaders, and the State can’t boast of a single political leader with the kind of charisma, intellectual spark, articulation skills, and most important, the ability to get Delhi coming down to Chennai to seek one or the other Dravidian party’s support, to get some mileage in an election.

Stalin’s dilemma

When you consider Karunanidhi’s record in Tamil Nadu politics — 13 times MLA, five times CM, never losing a single election he contested, and the tremendous respect and awe that he generated in New Delhi — his son and political heir Stalin is left with too big a pair of boots to fill. Only the coming days will reveal the kind of challenges or headaches he faces from siblings MK Azhagiri or Kanimozhi, the apple of her father’s eye, when it comes to heading the DMK.

But one thing is sure, since Jayalalithaa’s death, and particularily after his father’s demise, Stalin must be sick and tired of political analysts screaming from every television channel that had his father been in charge of the party, he would have managed to easily split the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death. Or at least done a deal with Delhi to force a mid-term election in Tamil Nadu. So coloured is our thinking and analysis of all matters political, that Stalin’s inability to break the AIADMK, by means fair or foul, and grab power by hook or crook, is considered a weakness, and questions are raised about his ability to take over his father’s legacy.

In the AIADMK, thanks to the huge vacuum left by Jaya, who carefully avoided grooming the next level of leadership, the result is colourless leaders such as EPS and OPS being thrust upon us. Neither is credited with the ability or the political savvy to win an election.

That Jaya used to compel senior BJP leaders of the stature of LK Advani to fly down to Chennai to seek her political patronage is a distant, fading memory in an era where the TN Governor has regular, direct meetings with the State’s officials, completely bypassing the government. Or when BJP chief Amit Shah comes to Chennai and brands the TN government one of the most corrupt in the country. And a few weeks later, the AIADMK votes against the non-confidence motion against the BJP. Compare this to the Trinamool Congress threatening legal action unless Shah apologises for his remarks against Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Kolkata last week.

Leadership void

So what next? The State has lost all its political leaders of stature and now the spotlight will be on Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan who have taken the plunge into politics. But how they manage in murky and turbulent waters remains to be seen. On its part, the BJP and Amit Shah will make the hardest push as yet to grab some political space in Tamil Nadu by twisting the arm of either of the two main Dravidian parties to ally with it in 2019. Or try to get Rajini on its bandwagon.

Whatever happens, Tamil Nadu’s political scenario will see some upheaval in the near future. But while the State mourns for and misses two of its strongest political leaders, Jaya and Karuna, what we cannot afford to forget is that both were guilty of massive corruption. Jaya was convicted, and Karunanidhi’s immediate family, including the Maran brothers, have all been charged and tried for corruption.