DMK under sway of dynasty politics

Chennai: The DMK founded by the doyen of Dravidian politics, C N Annadurai on September 17, 1949, has now become a party controlled by one family.

The DMK, which was formed as a breakaway faction of Dravida Kazhagam (DK) of Dravidian ideologue E V Ramaswamy Periyar as part of a revolutionary political movement, is now a party whose control is vested with the family of late Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi or ‘Kalaignar’ Karunanidhi.

The late Karunanidhis‘s son MK Stalin is the party president and also the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. However, Stalin has risen from the ranks and had been brutally beaten by the police while being arrested during the Emergency under MISA. He was also jailed in Chennai for protesting against the Emergency imposed by the Congress government under Indira Gandhi.

Karunanidhi’s daughter and sister of Stalin, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, is the Deputy General Secretary of the party and Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from the Thoothukudi constituency. She is seeking re-election in the 2024 polls.

Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin is now the Sports Development and Youth Affairs Minister in the Tamil Nadu government. He is also heading the youth wing of the DMK.

Other than this, Stalin’s elder brother K S Alagiri was the Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals in the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre. He was also looking after the affairs of south Tamil Nadu as the southern region organising secretary. However, Alagiri had a tiff with Stalin and was expelled from the party. He is now keeping a low profile.

Karunanidhi’s sister Shanmughasundararathammal’s son Murasoli Maran was the Commerce Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government when the BJP was in an alliance with the DMK. Now Murasoli Maran’s son Dayanidhi Maran who is the grandnephew of Karunanidhi is a former Union Telecommunications Minister and the MP from Chennai Central constituency. He is seeking re-election from the same seat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent public speeches across Tamil Nadu stated that the DMK was a ‘5G’ or a fifth generation party. He was sarcastically anticipating the entry of Udhayanidhi Stalin’s son, Inbanidhi into the mainstream DMK politics.

Political analyst and psephologist K Selvanathan said, "The DMK is now a private fiefdom of the family of Karunanidhi. In fact, it was Nedunchezhiyan who should have succeeded Annadurai when he passed away, but Karunanidhi took the mantle and there was no looking back after that. Now the party is his family property and many of the DMK leaders are following the example of Karunanidhi and have brought their children into politics. Many of them are contesting in this year's Lok Sabha elections.”