Within a year of Jayalalithaa’s death, the DMK has put together a grand alliance in Tamil Nadu

Tuesday marks the first death anniversary of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Like an empire crashing down after the passing of a charismatic ruler, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the party that Jayalalithaa led to victory in the Assembly elections in May last year, looks completely weakened and is grasping at straws to remain in the reckoning.

The bitter infighting in the AIADMK has naturally benefited its principal opponent the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, whose fortunes have changed dramatically in the last 12 months.

Much of the media in Tamil Nadu was focused over the week on actor Vishal’s decision to enter the fray in the bye-election to Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar in Chennai, a seat held by Jayalalithaa when she died last year. But the real story is how the DMK has become a sought-after ally again, with parties that refused to have any truck with it in 2016 readily offering their support to the Dravidian party.

In essence, the formation now looks like a definitive precursor to an alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with the Left parties even disregarding the presence of the Congress in the DMK alliance as they offer support to the DMK.

A crowded contest

The contest in Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar has turned crowded and chaotic over the last two weeks. The DMK has fielded Marudhu Ganesh, the same candidate who took the field in April when the bye-election was cancelled at the last moment due to widespread distribution of cash in the constituency. Veteran leader E Madhusudhanan, who was the candidate of the O Panneerselvam faction of the AIADMK in April, will contest on behalf of the united party under the recently regained “two leaves” symbol. In August, the factions led by Panneerselvam and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami merged, facilitating the recovery of the famed symbol last month after a protracted legal battle before the Election Commission of India.

TTV Dinakaran, the nephew of Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala, will contest as an independent. This apart, the battle will see Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa Jayakumar entering the electoral fray for the first time, claiming that she, as a blood relative, is the political heir of her aunt. The BJP, on the other hand, has nominated Karu Nagarajan, a Nadar community leader who last year quit the Samathuva Makkal Katchi led by actor Sarath Kumar, to join the national party. He was roped in after musician Gangai Amaran, who contested in April, refused to fight the bye-polls again.

Last week, the bye-election became even more interesting with actor Vishal throwing his hat into the ring. A young cinema star who fought bitter battles over the last two years to win the elections to actors’ and producers’ unions in Tamil Nadu, Vishal will also take the field as an independent.

Vishal’s decision has gained much media attention in a state where the bond between cinema and politics has remained strong for over five decades. His decision also took observers by surprise at a time when the state was anticipating the entry of superstar Kamal Haasan into politics. Despite his announcement that he would launch his political outfit soon, Haasan has kept away from the bye-polls.

Playing to the gallery like a seasoned politician, Vishal paid his respects to leaders of the Dravidian pantheon – CN Annadurai, MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa – at their memorials before filing his nomination papers on Monday.

However, the most significant development of the bye-polls seems to be how the DMK has managed to stitch together a grand alliance, a crucial change from last year when many parties refused to have a tie-up with the party, despite its leaders actively wooing them.

A grand formation

The importance of DMK’s success in putting together a strong front could not be stressed enough. In the run up to the Assembly elections in 2016, almost all significant players in Tamil Nadu, except the Congress, deliberately stayed away from the Dravidian powerhouse and formed their own alliances. This turned into a decisive factor in the polls as the AIADMK took the lead and formed the government. The DMK, though, emerged as the strongest-ever Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly with 89 seats.

Months after the AIADMK formed the government, Jayalalithaa died on December 5, sending the party founded by MG Ramachandran floundering. This led to a shift in public perception of the DMK, which is evident in the way the other parties have now reacted.

Take the case of the communist parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has joined hands with the DMK for the first time since the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by Vaiko, a bitter critic of DMK working president MK Stalin, and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi led by Thol Tirumavalavan, who along with the Left parties formed the People’s Welfare Front in 2015, have also thrown their weight behind the DMK. The Congress has remained in the DMK front.

Why this change? CPI (M) state secretary G Ramakrishnan told Scroll.in that the tectonic shifts in Tamil Nadu politics after the death of Jayalalithaa have forced the party to make this decision.

Ramakrishnan said the AIADMK has turned into a “satellite party” of the BJP, having “pawned” federal principles to escape action by investigation agencies. “The BJP has successfully used the Central Bureau of Investigation and other probe agencies to control the AIADMK,” he added.

Though the BJP has fielded a candidate, Ramakrishnan said it was pretty clear who was controlling the AIADMK government. “We cannot allow the BJP to get a toehold in Tamil Nadu by using the AIADMK,” he said.

But what about the allegations of corruption against the DMK that forced the Left parties to form a separate front in 2016?

Communist Party of India leader D Pandian said a choice had to be made between fighting corruption and fighting communalism. “The immediate threat to the very foundation of this country is Hindutva communalism,” he said. This was the reason the Left has decided to back the DMK which, he said, was the party that could successfully defeat the AIADMK. “We need to give the people hope that a change is possible,” he claimed.

On dealing with the Congress, Ramakrishnan said the party was a small player in Tamil Nadu and that the Left support was for the DMK’s candidate.

For the DMK, winning the polls emphatically is of great importance as its leaders anticipate that such a victory will catalyse the fall of the AIADMK, the ruling party which will also face a tough civic polls in the coming months. Further, Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar will be the first real electoral test for Stalin since taking over as working president of the DMK in January. He was given the post after his father M Karunanidhi, the DMK president, had to retire from active politics due to failing health. With the emergence of new faces such as Haasan on the state’s political stage, a victory in Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar has turned imperative for Stalin to consolidate his position as the main face of the Opposition and maintain his party’s momentum.

The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam led by actor Vijayakant and Pattali Makkal Katchi led by S Ramadoss are the only two notable parties to boycott the bye-polls.