Karunanidhi prepares DMK for change of guard

When Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced some time last year that he would quit active politics by May this year in view of his advancing age and failing health and hand over reins of power to his second son and Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin, sceptics wondered whether the party would let him go that easily.

This despite the fact that Mr Karunanidhi, who has completed 85 years, over 70 of which has been devoted to public life, has been practically wheel-chair bound for the past couple of years after developing chronic back problem.

The ailment did not stop him from public engagement and he even campaigned, though in a very curtailed fashion in the last Lok Sabha elections in May 2009, sharing the dais with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Though the spirit was willing, the flesh was not. So he made public the succession plan. Immediately after bringing the DMK back to power in 2006, he made Stalin No 2 in the party. After the ailment severely affected his mobility, he formally named Stalin Deputy Chief Minister, thus paving the way for a smooth succession. In a simultaneous move,he moved Stalin's only possible challenger and his Madurai-based elder son M K Azhagiri to New Delhi as Union Minister after formally recognising him as the party's southern boss by making him organising secretary in southern districts. He also carved out a role for his daughter Kanimozhi by his second wife by making her a Rajya Sabha member.

At the personal level, he announced with the consent of his family that his Gopalapuram residence in the heart of the city would be made into a hospital for the poor after his and his wife Dayalu Ammal's lifetime.

In spite of such arrangements, many believed that the daughty Mr Karunanidhi would stick it out as long as possible.

But he dropped a bombshell on Tiruvalluvar day(Jan 15) at a function here when he frankly said he was not sure he would be able to make it to the function as he could not wake up for four hours and doctors had to be called in. He said Mr Stalin was already sharing the burden of governance and he would formally take over in May. Mr Karunanidhi said he and part general secretary K Anbazhagan, who is a year older than him but has no health problems, would step aside for the next generation to take over.

At least on paper, Mr Karunanidhi has ensured that Mr Stalin will be his successor in the party while Mr Azhagiri will be the southern boss. To what extent this arrangement will hol remains to be seen. In an immediate reaction, Mr Azhagiri told reporters in Thoothukudi the other day that he would not let his father retire that easily.

Mr Karunanidhi wanted Mr Azhagiri to be to Mr Stalin what Mr Murasoli Maran was to him, as pointman in New Delhi. But then Mr Maran was a different kettle of fish. Mr Maran was an intellectual who stayed aloof from the party and never had a faction for himself. He was more comfortable as a parliamentarian in New Delhi though at one time he too nurtured ambitions of succeeding Mr Karunanidhi. Later on, he got reconciled to Mr Stalin taking over from Mr Karunanidhi.

Unlike Mr Maran, who was a sophisticate, Mr Azhagiri is street smart who has ensured by naked use of money and muscle power the DMK's victory in all the ten by-elections held in Tamil Nadu in the last one year or so, that too without holding any official position until recently.

Mr Karunanidhi realises it is not enough if Mr Stalin gains acceptance within the party. To be acceptable by the people, he has to function as Chief Minister. Hence the transition plan in May. Why May? Because the next elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly are due in May 2011.

Mr Azhagiri will not immediately challenge the arrangement. Post-Karunanidhi, it will be a free for all. Mr Karunanidhi's calculation is it will be difficult for Mr Azhagiri to pose any major challenge once Mr Stalin as Chief Minister ensures the victory of the party in the next elections. It is not an easy task as Mr Stalin will have to match AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha's charisma and the MGR vote bank she has retained just as Mr Karunanidhi has kept his party's vote bank intact, whether in or out of power.

Ms Jayalalitha's campaign line since her party's defeat in 2006 is that Mr Karunanidhi is assiduously promoting family rule. But then, she has been no exception as her friend Sasikala and her relatives wield undue influence in the party and the influence extended to the government also whenever Ms Jayalalitha was Chief Minister.

If Mr Karunanidhi is able to smoothen the path of Mr Stalin at the time of the next election, his position will become strong. Provided the Congress sticks to the DMK under Mr Stalin. It will, so long as Mr Karunanidhi is around.

- Asian Tribune -