CHENNAI: After a very long time, the DMK mouthpiece Murasoli has come down heavily on former Chief Minister and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran (MGR), even as the Opposition party celebrates its golden jubilee.
Various articles are being published in Tamil and English dailies in recent days to mark the AIADMK’s golden jubilee. Most of these articles, written by historians and AIADMK members, state that the party was floated due to atrocities perpetrated by DMK cadre against MGR fans. These articles also mention that the party was formed for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden.
To counter their claims, Murasoli on Thursday carried an editorial severely criticising MGR. According to the editorial, the AIADMK was floated by the departed leader in 1972 following threats from the then Union government with the aim of splitting the DMK and toppling its government.
To substantiate the statement, the editorial quoted the book MGR: The Man and the Myth written by K Mohandas, who served as DGP of Tamil Nadu during MGR’s tenure as Chief Minister. The editorial stated that MGR was threatened by the Union government with I-T raids and ED action over his foreign trips and had to bow down to the Centre. He was under pressure to split the DMK, said Murasoli.
The article also caught the attention of the State BJP unit. The saffron party’s spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy tweeted, “Today’s Murasoli editorial has stated that it was Congress which created infighting in the DMK and split MGR from the party. The Congress party, which has an alliance with the DMK, is watching this without shame.”
However, GK Muralidharan, State general secretary of Congress, told TNIE, “When the DMK split, there was no political influence for the Indira-led Congress faction in Tamil Nadu. The more powerful faction was the one led by Kamaraj. Hence, there was no connection between the split and Congress. Now, the Congress has been standing with parties which support secularism since our core principle is secularism and Unity in Diversity.” He added that the BJP has no right to speak about this issue since the BJP itself has swallowed so many of its allies.
The Murasoli article was perhaps aimed at questioning the glorification of MGR and the AIADMK and the perception that they acted keeping in mind the welfare of the poor. Commenting on the row, veteran journalist Srinivasan Venkat told TNIE, “There is no need to recall these things. Though the AIADMK does not follow core Dravidian ideology, it certainly has been serving as a ‘speed-breaker’ for national parties such as Congress and BJP, which hope to emerge as a big force in the State. The AIADMK has helped in keeping national parties at bay.” He added that the weakening of AIADMK would only help one of the national parties — Congress or BJP, and not the DMK.
Veteran journalist Tharasu Shyam has a different view. “Even though 30 years have passed since the death of MGR, there has been no let-up in glorification of the leader. Hence, unable to stomach his popularity and influence among the voters, the DMK has recalled such controversial matters and criticised him.”