DMK which is the ruling party in the state of Tamil Nadu was founded in the year 1949 having split from Dravida Kazhakam (DK). According to its founder E. Ve. Ramaswamy DK was primarily focused on social reformation & was not involved in electoral politics. DK observed August 15th 1947 as “Black Day” since the party & its members were against the concept of India. They dreamt of a separate Dravida Nadu. Their agenda was driven by fierce opposition to Brahmins, Hindu Gods, Hindi language & concept of India.
The same was adopted by DMK by its founder CN Annadurai who built his political party with all the concepts borrowed from DK. Their protest against Hindi imposition gained traction and DMK could perform as a decent opposition in the 1957 & 1962 elections. Yet the party had not given up its demand for separate country. It took the Chinese invasion in 1960’s for the party to drop its demand for a separate nation lest the party would be barred from contesting elections and its members be charged and arrested.
In 1967 by building a strong coalition which included leaders like Rajaji helped DMK to capture power in the state. Unfortunately, the Founder and then Chief Minister CN Annadurai passed away within few years. With the support from Matinee Idol MGR the mantle of Chief Ministership fell on the lap of M. Karunanidhi. DMK won the 1971 elections with a brute majority by forging an alliance with Indira Gandhi who decided not to put candidates for assembly elections for a better bargain in Lok Sabha.
The turning point of Tamil Nadu politics happened in the year 1972 when the hugely popular MGR turned against Karunanidhi and started a breakaway party ADMK. As long as MGR was alive DMK & Karunanidhi were confined to the opposition benches. The party lost 3 consecutive assembly elections in 1977, 1980 & 1984. In any other party 3 consecutive defeats would have meant that there would be a big hue & cry for change of guard at the top but alas DMK had by then turned into a complete family run unit which had taken control.
1989 saw a window of opportunity for DMK due to the death of MGR and the split in ADMK but the joy was short lived since DMK Government was dismissed by the then Prime Minister Chandrasekar citing severe law & order issues and collusion with terror organization LTTE. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on that fateful night of May 21st 1991 it was Jayalalitha who stormed to power with a massive majority where DMK was reduced to 2 seats out of 234 in the state assembly.
Due to severe corruption charges on Jayalalitha DMK won the elections in 1996 in alliance with Tamil Manila Congress which was founded by GK Moopanar who had split from Congress due to the decision of the then Prime Minister PV Narashima Rao’s decision to ally with Jayalalitha.
From 1996 to 2013 DMK had played an important role in Central Government since its support was crucial for United Front Governments led by Deva Gowda & IK Gujral and later for Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004. Later in 2004 DMK decided to ally with Congress and played a crucial role in UPA 1 & 2 Governments. However, after 1996 assembly elections DMK lost its power in 2001 and could form a minority government in 2006 but lost 2011 elections badly. In 2016 Jayalalitha broke several myths and single handedly defeated DMK without forging any alliance. This was due to the fact that DMK was perceived by the people of Tamil Nadu as a party which promotes rowdyism indulging in property disputes, create law & order problems by overindulgence of its party cadre and finally the corrupt practices of its extended family members. These are often the reasons cited for the party to lose confidence amongst the people when it comes to state assembly elections.
After being in opposition for 10 long years and due to a massive 12 party coalition Stalin, Son of M. Karunanidhi won the 2021 assembly elections with a slender margin of around 4% votes. This was even after the death of J. Jayalalitha and TTV Dinakaran had split from ADMK and the perceived weak leadership of Edapadi Palaniswamy (EPS), former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. In fact, the poll results broke the myth that EPS was a weak leader since NDA coalition had won 75 seats which was remarkable considering the situation in Tamil Nadu.
DMK had also come to power due to the tall promises that they had given in their manifesto which included the following:
Promises Given by DMK Status of Promise
First Signature is to remove NEET from Tamil Nadu Still doing politics using NEET.
Wrote letters to 12 Chief Ministers and no response
Rs. 5 reduction in Petrol & Rs. 4 reduction in diesel Only Rs. 3 reduced for Petrol
Rs. 100 subsidy per LPG cylinder No
Rs. 1000 per woman per month No
Loan waiver for students No
Gold loan waiver Partially with conditions where only 28% of promised people got the waiver
As you can see DMK has not fulfilled most of the promises that they had given in their manifesto.
All that they keep saying is that this DMK Government is following “Dravidian Model of Governance.”
What is exactly Dravidian Model?
• Dravidian Model is a model where you give tall promises before elections and post elections you don’t fulfill them.
o This started from 1967 when CN Annadurai promised 3 padi (approximately 4.5 kgs) Rice for Re.1 and could not be fulfilled. They could give only 1 padi rice for Re. 1.
o We shall attain Dravida Nadu or Graveyard was the promise but Dravida Nadu was dropped for the lust of power.
o 2021 Election manifesto was full of promises but fell short in delivery.
• DMK gifted liquor to the state of Tamil Nadu while Tamil Nadu was the first state to have prohibition even in British India. Today the state functions due to the revenue from liquor sales. This is Dravidian Economic Model.
• Dravidian Model promises social justice & empowerment but Dalits occupy the bottom rung in the DMK Cabinet.
• Dravidian Model would claim that it is secular but the Chief Minister would refuse to offer wishes for Hindu festivals like Diwali & Dasara but would profusely participate in Ramzan & Christmas celebrations.
• Dravidian Model is throwing sacred ash collected from temples or mutts on ground while participate in other religions events with fanfare.
• Dravidian Model is to practice corrupt practices in a scientific manner which was commented by Former Judge Sarkaria.
One may be tempted to ask on “how such things don’t pass the scrutiny of the media?” This is where the BJP Tamil Nadu State President Annamalai clearly explained how Dravidian Model works.
JVC Sreeram
Political Commentator & Psephologist
Jan Ki Baat
TBC
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