CHENNAI: The DMK cadre are a bit confused. The confusion is over whether to call Thursday’s verdict a victory or not.
The party-led alliance swept the Lok Sabha polls. But still, the party has not managed to win enough seats in the bye-polls to regain power in the State. On the other hand, the party’s national ally, Congress, has performed miserably at the national level. So, despite so many choices the DMK, the party could not capture power either at State nor at Centre.
“The numbers will say that we have won. But in reality, this is not a victory for us,” said a DMK MLA. The party is out of power in the State since 2011. After it quit the Congress-led UPA in 2013, it did not have a chance to share power at the Centre since then. Being out of power for so many years and also losing its supremo M Karunanidhi, have been testing times for the party. The only consolation for the party is that its new leader MK Stalin has for the first time proved that he can deliver the goods, by sweeping the Lok Sabha polls. He led the party’s campaign and was its most visible face at the State and the national level.
“Stalin has proved that he is capable of chasing the BJP. But, other parties, including Congress, failed to do this in other States. Hence we are not able to capture power at the Centre. DMK cannot be blamed for this,” said another leader. But, the failure to sweep the bypolls, which are more crucial for the party to capture power in the State, will be a setback. Stalin had repeatedly vowed that his party will sweep all the 22 seats in the bypolls and secure a majority in the Assembly.
“The electoral victory will help Stalin maintain his leadership position in the party. Already, the party has come under his control. This victory will further strengthen his hands,” said Ramu Manivannan, professor, Department of politics and public administration, University of Madras.
He said the DMK-led alliance’s victory in Lok Sabha polls means Tamil Nadu remains a soil that is against BJP. “But the challenge is in bringing welfare schemes to Tamil Nadu and how to use this victory for the betterment of the State,” he said.