Tamil Nadu Election 2021: First assembly polls sans J Jayalalithaa, M Karunanidhi

File image: Portraits of former Tamil Nadu chief ministers M Karunanidhi (DMK) and J Jayalalithaa (AIADMK) (Images: Reuters)

Tamil Nadu is heading for polls to elect a new Legislative Assembly. While all political parties in the southern state are busy canvassing and campaigning, something seems amiss.

The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)’s campaign is being led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam. On the other hand, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is being led by former deputy CM MK Stalin.

This is a strange election campaign scene for many voters. AIADMK’s matriarch J Jayalalithaa died following a cardiac arrest in late 2016 and her political rival, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, passed away in 2018 after prolonged age-related illnesses.

Jayalalithaa, or “Amma (mother)”, as her supporters call her, joined active politics in 1981. She was AIADMK's propaganda secretary and a Rajya Sabha member before taking over the reins of the party and becoming the chief minister. She became the chief minister six times between 1991 and 2016 albeit with interruptions due to the disproportionate assets case.

Karunanidhi, on the other hand, was involved in politics since he was as young as 14 years of age. He had already entered the state assembly in 1957 by the time he was 33 years old. He became the chief minister in 1969 after then DMK leader and chief minister CN Annadurai’s demise. He held the state’s top executive office on four more occasions until 2011.

Both actively campaigned and guided their cadre throughout this period. Thus, multiple generations in Tamil Nadu have never seen an assembly election without either Jayalalithaa or Karunanidhi’s presence.

Read: Stalin-led DMK's triumph or third consecutive term for AIADMK?

Legacy and impact

The impact of “Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader)” Jayalalithaa and “Kalaignar (Artist)’s” absence is different on the AIADMK and the DMK, respectively.

Although Jayalalithaa hoped for her party ruling “for the next 100 years”, there was no clear succession plan. This led to months of chaos within the AIADMK after her demise.

While Palaniswami and Panneerselvam subsequently set aside their differences and took joint control of Tamil Nadu's ruling party, the war to inherit Jayalalithaa's legacy continued.

Jayalalithaa’s legacy is also continued to be claimed by TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of VK Sasikala – the former chief minister’s key aide.

Under EPS and OPS, the AIADMK also tied up with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has limited presence in the state. Their National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was battered in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance managed to win just one of the state’s 39 parliamentary seats.

This has been cited by political commentators to suggest that there is an anti-incumbency sentiment among voters after 10 years of the AIADMK rule. Remember, the power had kept swinging between the AIADMK and the DMK every five years since at least the early 1990s.

Read: Stalin vs EPS | Tamil Nadu’s ‘presidential’ election

However, unlike Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi seemed to have a succession plan. Years before his death, Karunanidhi had steadily manoeuvred his son Stalin to lead the party.

Their critics claim that potential challengers such as Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy, commonly known as Vaiko – who went on to form his own party – were systematically sidelined to make way for Stalin. At one point, Vaiko was seen as Karunanidhi's ideological protégé. Incidentally, Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) is now part of the DMK-led alliance.

In 1980, Stalin was made the secretary of the party's new youth wing. Nine years later, he was made to contest for the assembly from the Thousand Lights 'safe seat' in Chennai.

Stalin was made the mayor of the Tamil Nadu capital in 1996 and got a cabinet position in his father's government in 2006. He was finally elevated to become the state's first deputy chief minister in 2009, ahead of other senior leaders.

Seven years ago, Stalin was named Karunanidhi's heir apparent. He promptly took over key functions of the party after Karunanidhi's health started deteriorating.

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Void in Tamil Nadu politics

Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi’s absence created a void in Tamil Nadu’s political sphere. Actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan saw an opening and rushed to fill it. While Rajinikanth later announced he won’t form a political party, Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) is putting up an aggressive campaign.

A campaign sans Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi was also seen during the 2019 assembly by-elections. But only 22 of the state’s 234 seats were polling. Additionally, the focus was largely on national issues as voting for the general election was held simultaneously.

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