Seven?some say nine?or none in the Cabinet has been the stand of DMK. The numbers are important for DMK president Karunanidhi to keep party above family. Three in the family have to be Union ministers to keep the family equations right. To keep close confidants closer and maintain regional political balance, at least 3+1 posts have to be negotiated for the party cadre. The DMK patriarch?s plan to have sons and daughter in Union or state cabinets would be a matter of envy for the other father figures in Indian politics?from Farookh Abdullah to Sharad Pawar and Murali Deora.
By sending the elder and more assertive son Azhagiri to the Centre, Karunanidhi was planning to consolidate the younger son?s position at Fort St George. Together, they would be all powerful. The present decision to keep out and render outside support may be a temporary reaction. An angry walkout is unthinkable as the party needs the Congress support to remain in power in the state, at least until the next assembly elections.
In isolation, this push and pull for political power could be considered normal in any democracy. But when this game is placed in the historical perspective, it would appear to be the last straw sinking Dravidian movement and politics. Over 60 years, the ?self respect? movement of Periyar Ramasami Naicker, known as the father figure of the Dravidian movement, has metamorphosed catastrophically. It?s now reduced to a tool for wielding power.
The Dravidian social movement for the ?affirmation of oneself as independent, respectful individual, with the right to go up in the social ladder unfettered and unshackled?, as Periyar viewed it, became a political party in the hands of Annadurai. From Anna, the party was inherited by M Karunanidhi, under whose leadership it grew by leaps and bounds. As did his immediate family. Ideologies began to shift from ?self-respect through social action? to ?self-respect with wealth?.
The party split on issues of wealth and matinee idol MGR marched out of the DMK to form the AIADMK. When MGR died, his mantle of power was wrested by Jayalalithaa who?in pursuing power?was little bothered with Dravidianism. She was the first Dravidian party leader to join hands with the BJP, whose policies are diametrically opposed to the Dravidian movement. Interestingly, all Dravidian parties?including the DMK?have teamed up with the BJP at one point or other.
Though MGR?s action of dividing the DMK was considered a corrective necessity to tame Karunanidhi, it paved the way for the germination of a number of parties. Today, there is a political party for almost every Tamil subgroup and this has decimated the Congress in the state. Some new entities, like the Vanniyar votebank-dominated PMK, have grown to play an important role in state and national politics by shifting allegiance to the winnable side. PMK founder Ramadoss also brought his son Anbumani to the Union Cabinet through a Rajya Sabha membership in 2004. The party changed sides in 2009 but the voters rejected all its candidates. The three prominent Dalit groupings also have separate leaders and political parties. They too make convenient alliances to get a bit from the power pie.
The dialectics of Dravidian politics has given birth to the DMDK floated by actor-turned-politician Vijayakant. He vows to end family-centric politics for power. But all important office bearers of the party are his immediate family members. Much before the DMDK, the MDMK was floated by the firebrand Dravidian politician Y Gopalasamy by breaking away from the DMK. He too teamed up with the BJP to keep his party afloat and to have power. He had four MPs in 2004; he has only one today.
One after another, all Dravidian parties have become power-oriented at the cost of the people. As parties and party leaders grew in all aspects, the plight of people did not change. The DMDK is yet to make political gains. But on its own, the party has garnered over 42 lakh votes?more than 13%?in the recent Lok Sabha elections. It can be considered a harbinger of change?ushering in the end of politicking just for power.
?joseph.vackayil@expressindia.com
