NEW DELHI: MK Stalin-led DMK and Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK are locked in a tight battle in the state which voted on Tuesday. The two parties, which were similar in some respects, have slowly become more dissimilar.
Similarities
The most common point between the DMK and the AIADMK was that the two were led by charismatic leaders. The DMK was headed by M Karunanidhi from 1969 till his death on August 7, 2018. He was a screenwriter in Tamil films who rose to become the chief minister of the state on several occasions.
On the other hand, AIADMK was founded by Tamil film superstar MG Ramachandran (MGR) in 1972 after breaking away from DMK. His protege and Tamil film actor J Jayalalithaa led AIADMK from 1989 till her death on December 5, 2016. She served as the chief minister of the state for six terms.
How DMK, AIADMK owner Tamil Nadu politics
Interspersed with President’s Rule on several occasions, the power in Tamil Nadu got rotated between DMK and AIADMK from 1967 after the Congress was edged out of prime place in the state politics.
Further, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa alternatively became chief minister from 1989 onwards. The one exception was when Jayalalithaa quit the post in the wake of trial in the disproportionate assets case. Her confidante O Panneerselvam warmed the seat for her from September 21, 2001 to March 1, 2002.
The other exception was when AIADMK, after having won the assembly election in 2011, retained power in the 2016 state polls. The rotation of power between the AIADMK and the DMK was broken in 2016.
Divergence: Dynasty versus 'democracy'
In the current scenario, while the AIADMK is striving to win for the third consecutive term, the DMK is working hard to wrest power from it in Tuesday’s election.
After the death of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, both the DMK and the AIADMK respectively witnessed tussle for power.
The similarities between the two parties ended here. The DMK saw struggle for power between Karunanidhi’s offsprings - Stalin, MK Alagiri and Kanimozhi. The reins of DMK went to Stalin, who was nurtured by Karunanidhi as his political heir. In the process, the DMK has become a dynasty political party.
Tussle for power took place also in the AIADMK after the death of Jayalithaa. However, it was quite different from that in the DMK.
While three siblings competed with each other in the DMK, as Jayalalithaa was unmarried and did not have any child, the AIADMK witnessed a fight between her confidantes - VK Sasikala and Panneerselvam - on the one side and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran on the other.
Even though Panneerselvam replaced Jayalalithaa as the chief minister after her death, he lost the chair to Palaniswami who, during that period, had the backing of Sasikala.
Subsequently, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami patched up and the latter became the deputy chief minister. On the other hand, Sasikala and Dhinakaran, who were expelled from the AIADMK, joined hands in a bid to dislodge Palaniswami-Panneerselvam combine. Unlike the DMK, the AIADMK did not become a dynasty party.
Dhinakaran formed the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK) while Sasikala was jailed in a disproportionate assets case.
Alliance politics
In the ongoing election, the DMK has forged an alliance with the Congress. The BJP accuses both the DMK and the Congress of being dynasty parties.
On the other hand, the AIADMK had stitched an alliance with the BJP, both claiming to be non-dynasty-led parties.
The voters have two choices - whether to elect Stalin-led DMK or Palaniswami-headed AIADMK.