From the archives: Congress’ glory days in Tamil Nadu end

CHENNAI: The 1967 elections merely dethroned Congress, but the 1971 elections decimated it in Tamil Nadu, mainly due to the vertical split of the Congress into factions -- one led by Indira Gandhi and another led by a set of senior Congress leaders, including K Kamaraj. The elections were held under extraordinary circumstances due to changes at the national level. Indira Gandhi dissolved the Parliament to seek a fresh mandate for her to strengthen her hold.

In Tamil Nadu too, M Karunanidhi, who was into his second year of Chief Ministership, wanted to show that he can win elections even in the absence of his mentor CN Annadurai. Karunanidhi made use of the split within the Congress and allied with the Congress faction led by Indira Gandhi. But it was on conditions that the Congress faction will not contest in any Assembly seat and will contest only in 10 Lok Sabha seats. Soon after the DMK’s 1967 victory, the then party chief CN Annadurai managed to pacify Dravida Kazhagam leader ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy, who was until then strongly campaigning against the DMK. Periyar was also pleased by legal reforms initiated by the DMK regime on lines of the Dravidian ideology and extended his support to Karunanidhi in the 1971 polls.

On the other hand, C Rajagopalachari was upset that his ally DMK joined hands with ideological bete noire Periyar after the 1967 poll victory. He had quit the alliance and in 1971 polls, joined the alliance led by Kamaraj. DMK had also formed a rainbow alliance with the CPI, Praja Socialist Party, Thamizharasu Kazhagam, Muslim League and Forward Bloc. When the results came, it was evident that the young Karunanidhi had trounced the combined might of veterans Kamaraj and Rajagopalachari. DMK got an overwhelming majority of 184 in a house of 234 seats. Its allies had won over 17 seats. Kamaraj’s INC (O) won in just 15 seats, but still it had secured 34.99 per cent vote share.

DMK’s vote share was 48.58 per cent. In many of the seats, Kamaraj’s INC (O) had lost by narrow margins. Though the party had just 15 MLAs, the vote share indicated that he was still a popular leader among a substantial section of the electorate. H owever, for Karunanidhi, the tenure was not a smooth sail. Within a year after this resounding victory, the party faced its second split. This time it was actor MG Ramachandran who raised dissent. However, the split caused massive repercussions in later years than what had appeared then. MGR floated ADMK and in its first electoral contest in the Dindigul Lok Sabha polls, the new party defeated the ruling government.

While this marked the emergence of MGR as an independent leader, it also meant that the Congress would since be reduced to play second fiddle to either of the Dravidian parties. Absence of a strong second rung leader in the Congress was one of the key reasons. For Karunanidhi, the first challenge came when he lifted prohibition in the State (in effect since 1937) a few months after he come to power. The move was met with stiff opposition and Karunanidhi initially defended the decision. However, due to growing opposition, he did a U-turn and again imposed prohibition in 1974. Some of the significant achievements of the regime were nationalisation of bus transport, establishment of SIPCOT, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.

But what this Karunanidhi’s regime is still remembered for is its strong opposition to the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government. Tamil Nadu government was one of the few State governments that had the courage to oppose the Emergency. This resulted in dismissal of the Karunanidhi government under Article 356 of the Constitution on January 31, 1976, and the State came under President’s rule. MGR, on the other hand, accused Karunanidhi of corruption over the years and projected himself as a clean leader. Soon after dismissing the State government, the Centre also formed a Sarkaria commission to probe corruption charges against the DMK government.

Total seats: 234
DMK: 184 (48.58% vote share)
INC(O): 15 (34.99%)
CPI: 8 (2.32%)

Swatantra party: 6 (2.95%)
FBL: 7 (1.71%)
PSP: 4 (0.94%)
MUL: 2 (0.44%)
Independents: 8

The Cabinet 50 years ago
The cabinet comprised of VR Nedunchezhiyan, K Anbazhagan, NV Natarajan, S Sathiyavani Muthu, P.U. Shanmugam, S Madhavan, SJ Sadiq Pasha, Si.Pa.Aditanar, AP Dharmalingam, K Rajaram, OP Raman, S Ramachandran, M Kannappan and P Narayanasamy.