In February 2016, months before the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, then AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa had a hilarious father-son story to narrate.
The story went like this: A father teaches his son how politics is a dangerous game. He asks his son to bring a ladder and makes him climb up the loft. The father asks him to fetch papers of his political know-how, from the loft after climbing the ladder. When the son reaches near the loft, the father loosens his grip on the ladder and the son falls down. “If you think someone will help you win the game, you are wrong. Politics is an inconsistent and a dangerous game,” the father tells the son.
Though she didn't name anyone in the story, Jayalalithaa used it to take a searing swipe at then DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and his son M.K Stalin.
The AIADMK supremo, through the story, criticised Stalin's Namakku Naamey statewide tour. The story was to tell the people that Stalin himself was trying theatrics to climb up the political ladder as his father was not helping him.
Two years later now, both the storyteller, Jayalalithaa, and the main 'protagonist' of that story, Karunanidhi, are no more. But finally, the son has climbed up the political ladder. But as Jayalalithaa narrated in the story, not just at the national level, even within Tamil Nadu, politics is a fickle affair for Stalin, who will be elected as the new president of the DMK on Tuesday. A man who was groomed under the shadow of a banyan tree called Karunanidhi all these years has an arduous task ahead.
On March 1, 1953, when Stalin was born, Karunanidhi was addressing a condolence meeting for Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Hearing of the birth of his second son from his second wife Dayalu, Karunanidhi named him Stalin. Earlier, Karunanidhi had plans to name him Ayyadurai. Ayya was how his leader E.V.R. Periyar was fondly addressed and Durai was the second name of his mentor C.N. Annadurai. Though not named Ayyadurai, Stalin was groomed hearing the fiery speeches of Periyar and Annadurai.
Once when a school refused admission for Stalin because he was named after the Soviet leader, Karunanidhi chose to eschew that school, as he always wanted his son to be a revolutionist, not just by name but also in action. Stalin’s political journey began at the age of 14, when he campaigned as a school student in the 1967 elections. Stalin was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency in 1976 and this saw his steady growth in the party.
Stalin then became the DMK’s youth wing secretary in 1984. He was elected as a MLA from the Thousand Lights constituency for the first time in 1989, when the DMK came back to power after 13 years. In 1996, when he was elected as the mayor of Chennai for the first time, his administrative skills came to the fore. Stalin's pet project, Singara Chennai (beautiful Chennai), helped him shun the image of a VVIP brat.
Ironically, it was Jayalalithaa’s strong opposition to Stalin that saw his rise in mainstream politics from 2001. This was when Stalin eschewed his mayoral post to continue as a legislator as Jayalalithaa had then brought a law to abolish dual posts in the government. In 2003, Stalin was elected deputy general secretary of the DMK. He was elected as the party treasurer in 2010 and re-elected in 2015. In 2017, when Karunanidhi effectively withdrew from active politics, Stalin was elevated as the DMK’s working president.
But every stint was a learning experience for Stalin. In fact, in 2006, when the DMK came to power with just 96 MLAs, Karunanidhi did not offer Stalin any 'lucrative' portfolio like the Public Works Department or the State Highways Department or didn’t make him the finance minister. Stalin was given the local administration portfolio that required lots of review meetings and field visits. This was where Stalin honed most of his ministerial skills. In 2009, Stalin was then elevated to be the deputy chief minister of the state.
Of course, Stalin's five-decade-long political career has been a no easy climb. “Stalin is a good administrator. But his immediate challenge is to change the perception that he is no more a leader than under the shadow of his father. He has to change his image and turn into a firebrand leader who can pull victories from the circumstances,” opines political analyst and author Aazhi Senthilnathan.
Politics will not be a smooth business for the DMK’s Thalapathy (commander) as he has to draw new battle lines and identify his own rivals.