Bizarre. That in a word describes the situation in Tamil Nadu, where the supporters of one son of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, are on the rampage over the ascension of another. For some time now, the chief minister and his party, the DMK, has had to grapple with the two-son problem. While M.K. Stalin, the present mayor of Chennai, was his father's acknowledged favourite, the elder son, M.K. Azhagiri, has not hesitated to make his unhappiness over this clear by resorting to a combination of sulking and trouble-making. A month ago, Azhagiri even made a tearful speech at a party functionary's wedding, announcing his retirement from active politics; he would not have anything to do with the DMK from now on, he said. But nothing is as it appears in the celluloid-driven politics of the state. The grand gesture, the hyperventilation, the tears, mean very little when tested against the reality of power politics. The moment the chief minister made it clear in a recent statement in the DMK party organ,Murasoli, that he was disowning Azhagiri, the latter's supporters in Madurai have been indulging in a frenzy of violence, pelting stones on state property and setting buses on fire.This development is bound to prove exceedingly embarrassing to the chief minister but he should have seen it coming. For too long has he given both his sons a free run and allowed them to build their own power bases to the general detriment of the party. Over the years, Azhagiri has carved out a formidable constituency in the southern part of the state largely, it appears, through the politics of intimidation. He is also believed by some to have stymied the DMK's electoral prospects in that region and the party's official candidate for the Madurai constituency during the 1999 Lok Sabha election had complained bitterly about Azhagiri's role in his defeat. Meanwhile, M.K. Stalin has also been extremely energetic, politically speaking. Active in the youth wing of the party, his stint in jail during the emergency only added to his public profile. Winning the mayor's seat in the Chennai corporation four years ago helped this son build his own public profile.Although Stalin has always publicly maintained that being the thalaivar's son has only hindered, not helped, him politically and that his father has scrupulously avoided granting him any special favours, the very fact that he had his father's ear and blessings was enough to propel him to centrestage. Today, he is regarded as Karunanidhi's natural heir, albeit within a party that swears by its anti-feudal and rational credentials. While the Congress has been rightly berated for its dependence on the Nehru-Gandhi family, even parties that have come to power on genuine regional aspirations - whether it is the INLD in Haryana, the RJD in Bihar, the BJD in Orissa, TDP in Andhra Pradesh or the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu - have displayed dynastic tendencies of the most grotesque kind. As for the Tamil Nadu chief minister, he would be advised to rein in both his sons. Certainly, the people of the state cannot be held ransom to family politics.
