If life played out as per plan, Mu Ka Stalin, the second son of Muthuvel Karunanidhi, would’ve been Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu way back in 2001. After all, Stalin as Mayor of Chennai had changed the face and odour of the city. Stalin’s most famous contribution to the growth of Chennai was the privatization of garbage. A city that’s infamous for the stench of the Cooum, one fine day woke up to the beauties of privately collected garbage. Suddenly there were big green waste bins with ONYX written on them at every street corner. Young men and women dressed in bright yellow and green, wearing caps and gloves used to come home to collect garbage. Chennai hadn’t seen anything like this before. And voters were very enthused to vote positively for the DMK.
But Stalin made one small but costly mistake. He underestimated his opponent. In 2001, Jayaraman Jayalalithaa had more than 30 criminal cases against her. She had just finished a stint in jail and was disqualified by the Election Commission from contesting. No one, not even the staunchest of Amma loyalists gave her a chance. She did the one thing Stalin will never be able to. She spread out her palloo, went from constituency to constituency, and begged for people’s votes, in the name of her mentor Puratchi Thalaivar MGR. The image moved the melodramatic Tamil electorate. MGR’s chosen heir had become a woman wronged. A professional actor, Amma played victim to the hilt. When the votes were counted the AIADMK alliance won 196 out of 234 seats. Stalin was left waiting.
But his moment arrived last week. After an eight-year hitch Stalin was named Deputy CM. But it has been a long and hard grind for the DMK scion. Stalin shot to fame in 1976. He had just passed out after studying history at the Madras Presidency college, all of 23. Indira had put India was under emergency. His father’s government got dismissed. And Stalin found himself in jail under the notorious MISA. He spent a year confined in an 8 by 10 prison cell. Even today he shows you marks on his body and proudly proclaims them as the scars of democracy.
In 1984 he fought his first election from the Thousand Lights Assembly constituency. He lost by a narrow margin. Then there was a long hiatus in the wilderness. Stalin even tried his hand at acting. He acted in two serials, one for Doordarshan and the other for the family owned Sun TV. In fact, some people even today recognize him as Soorya, the lead actor in a serial by the same name.
But 1989 changed all that. The DMK rode on the anti-Rajiv storm across the country and won by a handsome margin. Stalin too won from Thousand Lights. He became a youth icon and got the title Ilaya Thalapathi or Young Lieutenant. It’s stuck with him ever since. Even today when he’s 56 years old.
As always the political purple patch was short lived. The DMK got decimated in the Rajiv Gandhi sympathy wave of 1991. Only 2 DMK MLAs won. And Stalin was not one of them. Five more years in the wilderness. Only to come back with a bang in 1996. Stalin got elected as the Mayor of Chennai defeating the formidable VS Chandralekha by well over four lakh votes. That’s when Stalin started being groomed as Karunanidhi’s heir-in-waiting. Apart from the garbage bins, Stalin also rechristened Chennai’s infamous public transport system. From PTC (Pallavan Transport Corporation) it became MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation). The city also saw the mushrooming of a dozen odd flyovers and mini-flyovers. But none of this was good enough for victory in 2001.
In the 2011 elections, Stalin will finally emerge out of the shadow of his legendary father. His opponent though will remain the same. The Regent of Poes Garden. He made the mistake of under-estimating her in 2001 and paid the price for it. Ten years later, the Young Lieutenant will hopefully be wiser.
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Not sure if there was an anti-Rajiv wave in TN during the 1989 elections. I think the Congress decided to go it alone for the first time since 1977(they were in an alliance with MGR for the 1980 and the 1984 polls); and the AIADMK was split into Jaya and Janaki factions and that's what catapulted the DMK into power (with just about 33% vote share). Can't say for sure if Bofors or Rajiv was an issue in TN during 1989.
yeah the split in the ADMK was a very important factor, but it also marked the beginning of the coalition era. if u remember the famous bangalore rally of the national front with lalu, mulayam, NTR and karunanidhi.. all with raised arms
That is a really a good documentation of Stalin. Climbing to the level of Deputy CM had not been easy for Stalin unlike many others in the dynasty politics. Competing with Azhagiri……. Stalin had to keep proving himself to his father so that the throne can be passed on…… In fact some critics had said that Stalin was not efficient because he should have taken the mantle from his father long back. Stalin had been patient. Even now…… Karunanidhi had very carefully planned his coronation. After bringing the family completely under control, he ensured that his party cadres and senior leaders accepted Stalin. After lot of preparations….Karunanidhi has passed on the reins……. Now its upto this Prince to prove himself. What I liked about this piece is how you started it with the `garbage’ achievement by Stalin….. and ended it with his present challenge.
First thing- BLOG ON STALIN!!!! Strange that he himself is an avid blogger! The transition may have happened late- but that is not just because Karunanidhi wanted his son to make gradual progress. The simple truth is that Karunanidhi was well, able and wanted to be at the helm. Today he knows his health is failing- so it's a clamour to push everyone in the family onto the bandwagon! And yes, the famous Poes Garden resident will be a challenge- but definitely not his only challenge. The challenge will come from within the party. The warring siblings may have got a piece of the cake now- but how long before they would want the entire cake? That will be Stalin's biggest challenge.
Also, not sure if Stalin's charisma as Chennai Mayor was pan-TN (nor was his charms as the youth wing leader - Vaiko was always the larger than life leader for the younger lot during those days). Somehow, he has never had an opportunity to show himself as a strong leader - unlike MK and JJ -over the years. Unless he becomes CM sometime before the next elections (like Chandrababu did) it will be very difficult for him to win an election for DMK on his own.
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