The outcome of the recent by-elections in Tamil Nadu was also the story of how at least four big political dreams played out in real life. Paulo Coelho, in his bestseller, The Alchemist, sold the idea of chasing your dream, saying: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Premalatha indeed is chasing her dream of appropriating the legacy of her popular actor-turned politician husband Vijayakant’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), but she is nowhere close to realising it. In fact, under her watch, the presumptive third largest party went downhill, not once but twice in recent times.
Till about eight months ago, the DMDK was seen as the game changer that had the power to help the DMK-led alliance reach the tipping point of electoral calculus and capture power in the State. DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi’s famous one-liner at that point in time was the metaphorical “Pazham kanindukondu irukkiradhu. Paalil eppozhudhu vizhum endru mudivaagavillai.” (The fruit is ripening. When it will fall into the milk is yet to be decided.) After weeks of speculation, deal making and a minor split in the party, the DMDK gave the old man a lemon as Vijayakant opted to go with the four-party People’s Welfare Alliance instead. How they together messed up an opportunity to emerge as an alternative to the Dravidian giants is history.
After the Assembly election disaster, the DMDK moved out of the alliance and went it alone in the recent polls. The party decided to contest — unlike the PWA that stayed away — because there is no other way to test yourself in a democracy. But the outcome came as a shocker as it ceded its prized third largest party space to the BJP in all the three seats. Even the None of the Above (NOTA) option did better than the DMDK.
Knives were immediately out as rebels laid the blame at Premalatha’s doorstep saying it was her arrogance, tactical blunders and the failure to read the tea leaves perhaps intentionally that left the DMDK without its chutzpah.
Called Anni (sister-in-law) by the cadre, Premalatha can’t escape responsibility as she and her brother Sudeesh are taking all the big decisions in the party while ‘managing’ Vijayakant. To be fair, Premalatha is a powerful speaker who makes a lot more sense than the incoherent Vijayakant. But the party comprises fans of the actor who sold the dream of ending Dravidian domination in politics. They want to see him lead and not be ‘led’ by Premalatha, which has been the case after his hospitalisation.
Premalatha’s failure is in sharp contrast to the career graph of J Jayalalithaa who not only picked up the baton of AIADMK leadership from MGR and led the party to victory but also surprised many by retaining power in consecutive Assembly elections, a feat rarely achieved in the State. The problem with Premalatha is that unlike Jayalalithaa, she is short on charisma - that essential ingredient that makes you acceptable as a mass leader. Premalatha appears to be more of a street fighter — much like Mamata Banerjee — and a tough negotiator, with a section of the cadre alleging she does dodgy deals. But to do a Mamata you have to be visible on the streets day after day and not make appearances only when the polls are around, as is the case with Premalatha.
The DMDK’s slips gave the BJP bragging rights to claim the third spot with four-digit votes in each of the three seats. For the party, it was a dream come true that could possibly increase its clout at the negotiating table with wannabe allies in future. Did the initial euphoria surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on demonetisation to fight black money and terror funding amplify the BJP’s performance? Whatever it did, it certainly had Modi as the big international newsmaker eclipsing everything, including the State bypolls. Isn’t politics all about optics?
On the downside, Modi’s attempts to suck black money out hardly had any impact on the by-elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. For the Election Commission, it amounted to an unfulfilled dream since it had actually postponed the May 16 elections to two constituencies — Aravakurichi and Thanjavur — citing proliferation of black money.
What was worrying was that the poll watchdog didn’t even appear to bark this time around. The big guy who couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear was V Narayanasamy as he finally realised his dream of ruling Puducherry with popular mandate. He won the Nellithope bypoll comfortably, a seat vacated for him to mark his maiden entry into the Assembly. In 2001, Narayanasamy had come within kissing distance of the CM’s gaddi but was upstaged by fellow partyman P Shanmugham. So, this time around he employed all means at the hustings to make an emphatic point. It happened under the nose of anti-corruption activist and Lt Governor Kiran Bedi. Can she confidently say the Nellithope bypoll was clean?
At the heart of the problem of black money is the dirt in the electoral system where you can’t quite imagine electing even a local body member without bribing the voter. Cleaning that up is the real challenge for Modi. Doable?
S Suresh Deputy Resident Editor, Tamil Nadu
Email: ssuresh@newindianexpress.com