M K Stalin, the friendly neighbourhood Chief Minister

Governor Ravi has had a series of run-ins with the DMK government since his appointment, even treading into the tricky territory of identity politics and sub-nationalism, which holds deep resonance in the state. He has questioned the DMK government’s advocacy of a “Dravidian Model”, suggested that the state be renamed Tamizhagam, dropped the state emblem from an invitation and, more prosaically, sat on Bills.

However, all through these series of incidents – which have, in similar settings, seen acerbic back-and-forths in other states – Stalin has maintained silence, leaving the questioning of Ravi to DMK leaders. After the Assembly walkout by Ravi, the DMK government sent a complaint to Delhi but party workers were told to refrain from personal attacks.

Importantly, the Centre responded in kind, with Ravi changing his tune almost immediately, reportedly after being reprimanded by Delhi.

While this display of maturity might have earned Stalin fans among those tired of the rough and tumble that is politics now, it comes with its share of risk.

In Tamil Nadu, the model of strong leadership is still J Jayalalithaa and, to an extent, M Karunanidhi, both leaders who cast their respective parties AIADMK and DMK in their own image. Jayalalithaa governed at a time when she could fell a government at the Centre by refusing support, while Karunanidhi was the old-style revered veteran who had friends and well-wishers across parties and was sought out for his negotiating skills.

How would the two have reacted to a spat with the Governor such as in the Assembly? Those who knew Karunanidhi say he would have, true to form, ensured there was no break with the Raj Bhavan, while Jayalalithaa might have gone to the other extreme. As CM, the AIADMK supremo was known to direct officials, such as district collectors, to refrain from providing escort or visiting the Governor whenever their relationship hit a low.

Even close friendships between party members of the two rival parties were forbidden. A prominent AIADMK leader once skipped his daughter’s wedding because the groom was the son of a Congress MLA, afraid of the wrath of “Amma”. Bureaucrats and police officers talk of getting transfer orders for accepting invitations from whichever party was in the Opposition.

Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi were also, famously, sworn enemies, refusing to meet or acknowledge one another, skipping the Assembly when the other was the CM, having tempestuous clashes that spiralled often into violence, and not letting up the cycle of hostility till their deaths.

One of the first tasks before Stalin was to fashion the DMK after himself, while growing out of his father Karunanidhi’s shadow. And equanimity in the face of opposition seems to be his way.

As a DMK MLA, he had attended Jayalalithaa’s swearing-in, after she won the election in May 2016, which Karunanidhi characteristically kept away from. Stalin did not flinch at not being given a seat in the front 10 rows; it was Jayalalithaa who ultimately apologised over this, while thanking him for coming.

In 2017, Stalin was one of the guests at the 60th birthday of BJP leader H Raja, an RSS product and an ardent critic of the DMK and Karunanidhi family.

In 2020, Stalin went to then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s residence in Salem to offer his condolences after his mother’s death. This was two years after the Palaniswami administration had refused land for Karunanidhi’s burial on Marina Beach in Chennai, forcing Stalin to go to court in the middle of the night for a favourable order.

In July 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi occupied pride of place at the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai. It was a far cry from 2014, and the DMK’s ‘Go Back Modi’ posters. At the inaugural event, which celebrated the state’s cultural history, and where a veshti-adorning Thambi was the mascot, both Modi and Stalin sported shirts and veshtis.

The CM even visited the home of Rangaraj Pandey, a TV anchor and YouTuber known for his extreme right-wing and anti-DMK views, when his father passed away recently, to pay his tributes.

Following the Assembly showdown with the Governor, the Stalin government moved quickly to seek redressal from the Centre rather than hit the streets, knowing well that the BJP would not want to risk squandering its painstakingly and carefully nurtured goodwill in the state.

The DMK also sent out a clear message that it expected its leaders to lay off Ravi after this, and one leader who threatened the Governor was immediately suspended.

Stalin’s detractors point out that while such handling of issues has put the CM apart from his counterparts, it has also helped him keep the heat largely off his government. With the DMK having given the state terms such as “sustainable corruption” and “scientific corruption”, no one believes that Tamil Nadu has turned a new leaf – even if Stalin gives the impression of having done so.

And yet, the feared Enforcement Directorate knock does not yet haunt the DMK.