The legacies of M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa have one commonality — both came under contest immediately after their deaths.
O Panneerselvam was the stand-in chief minister while Jayalalithaa was at the Apollo Hospital unit in Chennai for nearly 75 days. After she passed away in December 2016, a VK Sasikala-Panneerselvam battle for her legacy nearly toppled her government and paved the way for the BJP to plant a firm root in party affairs. That root is a constant niggle for the AIADMK even now.
In the case of the DMK, MK Alagiri, the elder brother of Stalin, has been the claimant to Karunanidhi’s legacy. He organised a large rally in Chennai in September 2018 and led them towards his father’s grave along the Marina, a clear signal that the reins the Kalaignar held in his hands cannot just be passed on without contest. But later, when he arranged for a meeting with the DMK cadre back in Madurai, the no-show was a clear indicator — the party remained with Stalin. Alagiri seemed to have resigned to reality, and moved on.
Where Karunanidhi’s entire legacy, goodwill, and political authority has been successfully inherited by MK Stalin, Jayalalithaa’s has been splintered, contested for over six years now, and leading to a downward spiral in a party known for its fighting spirit, ‘military discipline’, and unequivocal anti-DMK stance.
The AIADMK was thrown under the wheels of factionalism after Jayalalithaa’s death. Panneerselvam’s ill-fated ‘Dharmayudham’ did not break the party in two, but destabilised it badly. Palaniswami had to win a vote of confidence in the Assembly and run a government that seemed to skate on thin ice as far as MLA strength was concerned.
The BJP factor was unmissable. Palaniswami’s near-deference to the national party on several key issues became a tool for the opposition DMK to go to town with — the AIADMK MPs had voted in favour of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act in Parliament. In the subsequent assembly elections, the AIADMK did a U-turn, promising to urge the Centre to scrap the law.
Now, the AIADMK is in much better shape than it was right after the death of Jayalalithaa. Palaniswami has just won a Supreme Court sanction that the General Council decision that elected him as the party leader stands. The decision removing Panneerselvam from the party stands too. The ‘Two Leaves’ symbol is with Edappadi Palaniswami.
As a party, AIADMK is no longer plagued with factionalism and indecision as it was before. At the Erode East bypoll, Panneerselvam played the role of a minor irritant but the effects have been set aside by the court decision on Thursday. Win or loss, Palaniswami’s AIADMK is not frozen like a deer in the headlights like it was, but it has taken six years for the party to shed the baggage and emerge as one (even now Panneerselvam will continue to trigger trouble in some fashion).
Here’s where the legacies of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa are the most divergent. Where his lies unblemished, hers is marred by the rudderless ship her party is.
Among all the aspects of Jayalalithaa’s leadership is the stark absence of a succession plan. But she did say something — “Even after me [my death], this party will live on for a 100 years”. For Karunanidhi to make such a statement would have been odd as the party was born out of a political movement that raised important questions in favour of the oppressed, downtrodden, and the denied. It will live as long as these questions stay relevant.
For the AIADMK, there is no higher moral purpose than to oppose the DMK with all its fighting spirit. As it happens, Palaniswami appears to have fought off the encircling tentacles of internal factionalism. What awaits him on the field now is the DMK, in full might. Whether he delivers like Jayalithaa is the moot question.
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