For those who follow the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and were surprised by its nothing-short-of-spectacular victory in the parliamentary polls, the deadlock of the past few days between the Congress and DMK came as anti-climax.
The party won 18 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats it contested in the most unfavourable election climate accentuated by the war in Sri Lanka between the army and LTTE. If the DMK?s success was unforeseen, so was the Congress? rise and subsequent refusal to give in to what it considered unreasonable demands.
This led to a situation that put the regional party leadership and the family under great strain, according to sources. However, this was not just an issue of dynasty as many have said. It was also about the future of the party.
In Tamil Nadu politics and especially within his party, Karunanidhi is the tallest leader, who has rubbed shoulders with Dravidian icons, Periyar and Annadurai. One of the party founders, he has been the president for 40 years, the incumbent for 10 consecutive times since 1969. He has won all the elections he contested since 1957 and this is his fifth term as chief minister. Over the years, his younger son MK Stalin has emerged as his successor, though he comes only a distant second.
Observers say that the next biggest shuffle in state politics will happen when Karunanidhi calls it a day from active politics. The space he vacates will be big enough to accommodate many; and there are many claimants including newcomers.
Within the party, the first in line is Stalin, who has been waiting for long. There are rumours that he would be made deputy chief minister after the dust settles, after his role in spearheading the election campaign in Karunanidhi?s absence.
After staying out of the nitty-gritty of party administration and instead preferring to pull strings from behind, elder son Azhagiri has come to the forefront with his debut election and victory from Madurai. Now he is tipped to be a minister at the Centre. There was a time when the supporters of both sons clashed on the street. But for now it is in the past and Karunanidhi is anxious that it remains so.
According to one observer, while a Chennai-Delhi division of space between the sons could keep things under control, it will also let the party fill up Karunanidhi?s absence through two contrasting leaders.
But reality on ground has changed greatly in the past few years. If the DMK championed the cause of backward castes in its formative years, that block has been further divided into Dalit, Vanniyar and Thevar votebanks, each having its own leaders and agendas. It has now become imperative to align with one or many of these parties to ensure success.
Dalit leader Thol Thirumavalavan is a DMK ally, for now. The PMK, routed in the last election, is down but cannot be completely ruled out as a banker of Vanniyar votes. Many are waiting to see how Stalin will take on J Jayalalithaa.
On the other hand, there are rank outsiders like DMDK founder Vijayakanth who has made consistent progress in deciding the outcome. In the last election, his candidates ? a motley crew of industrialists, academicians and first-timers ?secured nearly 10% votes across the state, severely denting the chances of opposition front.
According to his party members, Vijayakanth is a leader of the future who has attracted a large number of youth who were with the Dravidian parties so far. In fact, after the DMDK started attracting the youth, Stalin reinvigorated the DMK?s youth wing, of which he is the founder leader.
Karunanidhi is a brilliant wordsmith, orator and writer. He is also a political strategist who has ensured his party?s representation in Delhi for the third time in a row. There is no one answer to the question, ?after Karunanidhi, who?, making every claim equally relevant.