CHENNAI: There was never a dearth of skilled orators in Dravidian politics. The language, the ability to connect with masses, and the passion they packed in speeches... all of it was distinct from the template set earlier by national parties.
Yet, Vaiko, who entered the Dravidian political landscape decades later, managed to carve a niche for himself with his fiery oratory.
There was a time, some observers recall, when Vaiko became a bigger crowd-puller to DMK meetings than his mentor M Karunanidhi himself.
That gift, however, hurt him more than it helped. Vaiko’s meteoric rise in DMK made many uncomfortable.
The first major rift appeared in his relationship with Karunanidhi in 1989, after the young leader crossed Indian waters to meet with LTTE chief V Prabhakaran.
This was the time when Indian Peace Keeping Force was sent to Sri Lanka by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to crush down militancy.
Vaiko’s outreach hurt DMK badly. The party came under nationwide attack for the outreach effort. Vaiko expressed regret, but Karunanidhi was hardly convinced.
Five years later, the relationship soured further. In an open statement in 1993, Karunanidhi cited an Intelligence Bureau report and accused LTTE of planning to assassinate him to help Vaiko politically."
Amid that politically charged environment, Vaiko launched MDMK.
He took with him nine district secretaries and hundreds of general body workers.
Many, at that time, saw the development as being similar to AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran’s exit, which has proved to be a costly mistake for DMK ever since.
Vaiko became a vocal critic of dynasty politics in DMK.
He said he was expelled so that Karunanidhi could promote his son, the now party president MK Stalin as the next leader.
In 1996, MDMK faced its first Assembly elections.
It contested in 177 constituencies in an alliance with CPI(M), but failed to win any of it. DMK came back to power with a thumping victory.
Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister and Stalin, subsequently, became the Mayor of Chennai city corporation.
Vaiko himself lost in both Vilathikulam Assembly constituency and Sivakasi Lok Sabha constituency. That was the end of Vaiko’s political independence.
Since then, his party has contested most elections in alliance with either of the Dravidian majors. In Assembly elections, MDMK almost never aligned with DMK, thanks to public memory of the ugly spat.
For instance in 2002, he was arrested by the then AIADMK government under POTA act and jailed for 18 months.
In 2004, Vaiko allied with DMK in the Lok Sabha polls and the alliance swept the polls by winning all 40 seats in TN and Puducherry.
Then came a costly mistake. He switched to the AIADMK camp in two years, for the 2006 polls.
MDMK contested in 35 seats and won just six. The alliance lost the elections. AIADMK learnt its lesson.
In 2011, Vaiko’s party was offered a mere three seats. Humiliated, he decided to boycott the polls. He said he was not going to contest alone to avoid splitting votes and, thereby, helping DMK win the elections.
In 2016, he was one of the key players in the People’s Welfare Alliance, a promising attempt at forming a third front in Tamil Nadu that, however, ultimately failed to capture people’s votes as much as their imagination.
The alliance failed to win even a single seat.
Soon after elections, MDMK left the alliance much to the surprise of his partners. This election is seen as a nail in the coffin of Vaiko’s political aspirations.
Today, the respected parliamentarian and firebrand orator is at the helm of a crumbling party.
The political clout that he enjoyed in the midnineties has faded into nothingness.
His growing proximity with DMK since 2016, and DMK returning the favour by sending him to Rajya Sabha points towards a new future.
In an era without Karunanidhi, Stalin and Vaiko may share a different equation.
A good indication for this is his acceptance of DMK proposal to contest in the Rising Sun symbol with Stalin as the undisputed chief ministerial candidate.
It seems to be a choice made out of struggle for survival.
Whatever the case, life has come a full circle for Vaiko.
While he shares dias and screen space with his mentor’s son now, his party website still recounts: MDMK was formed to oppose Karunanidhi’s dynasty politics.
(Editor's note: This story was edited to correct an inadvertent error that had slipped in.)