1962: The beginning of a fading Congress

CHENNAI: The 1962 poll results brought Congress reasons to both cheer and worry. The party got a comfortable majority by winning 139 seats, but the numbers were much less than its 1957 tally of 151. Kamaraj trained his guns on DMK, as it was not the main rival. He vowed to defeat all 15 sitting DMK legislators. He managed to defeat all of them but one — M Karunanidhi. Even the party’s chief CN Annadurai lost the polls.

On the other hand, DMK won 50 seats, more than tripling its tally from the 1957 election. The party had emerged as the opposition party and cemented its position as a serious contender against the dominance of Congress.From being the second-largest party in 1952, in just two elections the CPI was reduced to just two seats and its vote share also drastically dropped. Two other splinter parties that fashioned themselves as alternatives to the Congress were washed out. These were C Rajagopalachari’s Swatantra party (which broke away from Congress) and EVK Sampath’s Tamil National Party (which broke away from DMK).

What helped Congress was various developmental projects by the regime. Between 1957 and 1961, the Congress government had initiated various irrigation projects and dam constructions. A total of 13 big dams including the Vaigai dam and Amaravathi dam were built. Kamaraj’s government was also the first in the country to give free school uniforms to students in 1960.

When the election campaign began, it was a clash of personalities. Rajaji’s departure from Congress had put Kamaraj under pressure to prove his might. DMK’s Annadurai was determined to establish DMK as the only alternative to the Congress. For Rajagopalachari, he has to prove his relevance in TN politics as a ‘diplomatic politician’. Despite ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy’s vigorous campaigning in support of Congress, the growth of DMK had caused apprehensions among the Congressmen. After DMK emerged as the second largest party in the 1962 polls, it became the main target of Congressmen in the coming years.

However, many issues in the subsequent years only helped DMK’s campaign against Congress. Within one-and-half years after the polls, Kamaraj resigned the CM post under his famous ‘K-Plan’. It was part of the attempt to revive the Congress across the country. K Bakthavachalam was elected as the new CM of the State.

Under Bakthavachalam’s administration, the State faced several problems such as anti-Hindi imposition protests, inflation and acute drought. According to various political observers, Bakthavachalam lacked the tact of Kamaraj in handling the crisis. The State witnessed severe protests starting 1964 against imposition of Hindi by the Centre. DMK made full use of problems faced by the people and turned the resentment against the ruling regime as a support for it with a series of fierce protests.