End of Dravida history?

But this time such concerns rarely filtered into pollspeak, even though the attacks by the Sri Lankan army on LTTE positions were very much in the news. Interesting, too, is the fact that these elections saw the Congress in alliance with the DMK, once accused of being involved in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Similarly, Vaiko 8212; arguably the most eloquent champion of the Tamil Eelam cause in the state8212; campaigned alongside J. Jayalalithaa, who had once jailed him under POTA for his support of the 8220;terrorist8221; LTTE. Each of the main contenders, then, appeared more concerned with fighting a high-stakes battle for personal and political survival, than with promoting any grand ethnic cause. And that, possibly, explains their increasingly desperate recourse to cheap gimmicks like colour televisions, gold mangalsutras and the like, as voting day drew closer.

But the end of Dravida ideology, as we know it, in these elections also means that politics in Tamil Nadu has become much more narrow and personality driven. This, in turn, will ensure that the drama of revenge and retribution will continue to play on centrestage. We would, therefore, be wise not to take Karunanidhi too seriously when he solemnly avers that he is for ending the politics of vengeance in the state. After all, in 2001, when Jayalalithaa came to power after her handsome victory, she too had stated that 8220;it will not be the aim of this government to take revenge on anyone8221;. But those words didn8217;t stop her from sending her police to arrest Karunanidhi, then 78 years old, under the cover of darkness, a little over a month after she had captured Fort St George, for being 8212; as she put it 8212; 8220;a facilitator in the corrupt activities of his son8221;.

Not surprisingly, no one realises better than Jayalalithaa herself that the impulse for revenge in Tamil Nadu politics is not going to disappear overnight. When asked for her response to Karunanidhi8217;s attempt at reconciliation, she had no reciprocal sentiments to offer. 8220;He has never meant what he says. Let us see what he does,8221; was her comment. She also made it clear that, for her part, she will do her best to keep the revenge drama going. She did this by coolly terming the newly-elected DMK MLAs as 8220;barbarians8221; and going on to recall her moment of humiliation in March 1989, when she was personally attacked by DMK members on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly. This, incidentally, is an episode she has consciously used in the past to win sympathy from voters 8212; especially women 8212; by telling them that the DMK 8220;not only attempted to kill me8221;, they also tried to 8220;outrage my modesty8221;. In fact, when she suddenly appeared donned in her famous cape in the early nineties, she let it be known that the garment was necessary because under the previous regime Karunanidhi8217;s people had forgotten how to look decently on a woman.

Jayalalithaa also realises that there can be no early closure to this traditional hostility precisely because her real opponent now is no longer the 83-year-old Karunanidhi, but his son, M.K. Stalin, who too has reasons to nurse the demons of vendetta. Stalin, the youngest of Karunanidhi8217;s four sons, is clearly poised to assume his father8217;s mantle and the ministerial responsibilities now handed over to him cannot make this expectation more clear. He has been given charge of municipal administration, rural development, panchayati raj, poverty alleviation programmes, rural indebtedness, and urban and rural water supply 8212; all of which have rich political resonance because they provide opportunities to win over the hearts and minds of voters in both rural and urban Tamil Nadu.

If the son8217;s ministerial responsibilities are eloquent, so also are the father8217;s. Karunanidhi has chosen to retain for himself the home portfolio, as well as control over the administrative and police services. The chief minister retaining the home portfolio has become something of a time honoured practice in Tamil Nadu. Jayalalithaa, too, had done the same, as had Karunanidhi before her. Which explains the efficiency with which the state police have invariably obeyed the personal writ of these two political stalwarts.

Like any other battle zone, the political soil of Tamil Nadu today bears numerous mines and booby traps for its two main opponents. Not all the cases of corruption that the Karunanidhi government filed against Jayalalithaa in the late nineties have seen closure. But then, again, there can be no writing off the Puratchi Thalavi, as she awaits in the privacy of her Poes Garden residence for her moment in power.

As for Tamil Nadu8217;s unfortunate voters, they will at least get to watch all the action on their new colour TV sets 8212; provided, that is, the DMK is serious about fulfilling its electoral vows.

pamela.philiposeexpressindia.com