By S. Sivathasan –

S. Sivathasan

“Precise dates, picturesque outbreaks; these are conventions and conveniences of historians but history is a process too subtle for such methods.” – Lord Acton

To many a student of history the above quote is a truism. Keen observers of recent times too would admit to its exactitude. There is a qualification however. Every historic event has had a fair period filled with  long gestating antecedents. French Revolution did not explode just on 14^th July 1789. German nationalism grew up with philosopher Fichte’s ‘Addresses to the German Nation’ after 1812. What followed was Bismark’s ideology of ‘Blood and Iron’ which unified Germany with wars in the sixties. Likewise, the Russian and Chinese revolutions had their protracted struggles.

India too has had her decades long struggle for independence though the ethos was non-violent. Independence mandated speedy growth in the economic and social spheres in consolidating the fruits of freedom. This was not to be as seen in the contrast with the astronomic four to five times disparity of development in China. India needs to catch up on a generation of lost time. Tamil Nadu has had the misfortune of a mismatch of talent, resources and performance correctly identified to want of leadership.

Dravidian Model

Except for brief interventions of clean governance, the much vaunted ‘Dravidian Model’ became a byword for corruption, which in currency terms vaulted to Trillions. At this juncture emerged a doctor with knife in hand bent on surgical intervention. Having already diagnosed the ailment as terminal cancer and having the over-arching support of the polity in the state and the union government at the centre, the DMK is terror stricken. Symptoms manifest in placing interminable impediments in the way of Annamalai’s Pada Yatra, orchestrating blackouts in airports and roads and indulging in other disgraceful misdemeanours. By whom? The very party in governance styling itself a model with an ethnic overtone.

Indian Leadership

For reasons that were well known, BJP lagged in growth in Tamil Nadu till 2014. In a Germany devastated by the first World War, a leader emerged in the early nineteen twenties. Capacity to Theorize, Organize and Lead were essential attributes identified by that leader. India had the great fortune of leaders of stature in Tilak, Gandhi and Nehru. Thence emerged Vajpaayee from the turn of the century till 2004. The leader to follow in 2014 was of uncommon characteristics blessed with rare capacity for vision and leadership. He was Narendra Modi who is now of world stature and widely recognized as such. He and his party were accepted by India, but till lately not by Tamil Nadu. The picture is changing now and the nation’s Parliament will receive respectable representation in May 2024 from the state BJP.

Factor of Change

What explains the change? Emergence into politics of a leader of creditable academic performance, complemented by a decade of commendable government service. I discern that he has devoted a quarter century of preparation, principally reading in a very wide area related to politics and governance. His facility at multi-lingual oratory to mass audiences as well as to academic groups is a rare accomplishment. He is already treated as a pearl of great price to Tamil Nadu and a valued leader to India.

Many an attribute that a leader should possess, he has in good measure. Above them all is animated participation in Pada Yatras and total involvement in listenership and assimilation of his followers. With what result? For full 7 months, the polity has marched with him imbibing the leader’s mind, spirit and message to transform over millions of the voting multitude. They have had enough animation for interaction and regurgitation and look forward to greater involvement in larger numbers in the voting process. Having traversed a fair stretch of populated territory in the electorates and experienced the voter’s warm response, the BJP bristles with confidence.

Repulsive Electoral Process

After the Kamaraj era in Tamil Nadu and the MGR regimes, hardly ever has a DMK or AIADMK had successive terms in the seat of government. The state was rife with corruption and both parties earned the disregard of the electorate. When neither party could secure power on its own credentials, ‘purchase of votes’ became the abominable feature at elections over decades. In no time, alliances with other parties became inevitable. For almost half a century this evil is a mandated norm. A study of party affiliations shows a practice comparable only to the doping of horses at the racecourse. The worst evil now is for parties to piggy back on the prospective winners, bargain for seats in the legislature and even places in the Rajya Sabha. Whom did the framers of the constitution have in mind for RS? Personages of the calibre of Dr. M S Swaminathan, S. Jayshankar or Nirmala Sitaraman.

What do Some Statistics 1991 to 2019 in Tamil Nadu Show?

By 1991, the succession of a single National Party dominating the state at a General Election had become a phenomenon of the past throughout all the states. In Tamil Nadu, this change started in 1967 and has continued ever since for 57 years. For all appearances two state parties – DMK and AIADMK stole the show. However what was conspicuous was only the knitting together of coalitions. The minor state parties had no alternative but to sharpen their bargaining tactics and to piggy back on a leading party. Their incremental addition to voter strength made some difference. It has however been only a fleeting change as in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019. The inability to finalize the party alliance for the 2024 encounter is proof that without other party support, no formation is strong enough to sail to success on its own.

BJP’S Frontal Assault on Dravidian Parties in Tamil Nadu

Professing to redeeming the Tamils from a supposed Aryan onslaught, a coterie of people came together to have a political formation of their own. Hunting for a leader they struck upon a non-Tamil whom they reverentially called Periyar to lead the Tamils. In a discussion on what name to adopt, he confessed that he was not a Tamil but a Dravidian from Karnataka. His place of birth was not Tami Nadu and his Mother Tongue was Kannada. For all these reasons he wanted the name Dravidian.

He hated the Tamils, despised their language and knew nothing about their culture or history. He reviled everything Tamil and reveled in hating Thirukkural. In no time CN Annadurai found that he and his comperes had no political future with a maniac. Therefore he founded the DMK in 1949 a misnomer for a principally Tamil state. To cut any ice it took him and his party 18 years and he won in 1967. It took only 3 years for his successor’s government to be dismissed for corruption by Indira Gandhi. Soon thereafter MGR revolted against his corruption and the party’s brutal attack on dissenters and launched his party AIADMK. Both DMK and AIDMK were cast in the same mint. It didn’t take long after MGR’s demise for the two parties to vie with each other for superseding in corruption and to draw the state into mud and disrepute.

Complex Challenge Before Annamalai 

The complexity of the challenge and the difficulty in resolution are best known to Annamalai and his mentors in Delhi. Seeking to graft a large measure of idealism in an India of rich credentials and yet tainted by grotesque failings is Annamalai’s principal challenge. The image that has already got built up and that too with an all-India flavour is too much of a burden to bear.

To his credit may be cited his commendable success so far. Millions in Tamil Nadu bear personal testimony to his sagacity and relentless conveyance of BJP’s ideals, achievements and future programmes. In 111 days of Padayatra traversing through all 234 electorates, he has enlightened the polity of Tamil Nadu through his educative discourses enlivened with authentic facts and credible statistics. The whole course was accomplished in 7 months from July 28 to February 27, 2024. Shallow taunts of his opponents made hitherto became unconvincing and were shattered to smithereens. Two long months are yet available for a well integrated party to galvanize itself to victory,

Modi’s Mammoth Meeting Creating History

At no time in a political event in Tamil Nadu has the state seen a vaster assemblage. What explains? The sequence of events since the state election of 2021, has stirred up the political consciousness of the state as never before. The gathering crowds escalating with every Padayatra unnerved the challengers of Annamalai. The disintegration of party alliances opposed to the BJP, is now in full swing. The patch work I.N.D.I.A. is already in tatters.

Following the demise of Nehru and the premature death of Indira Gandhi, there was no political personality of towering strength. Any credible political philosophy with a viable economic programme ceased to evolve. At the turn of the 21^st century, it was not difficult for Atal Bihari Vaajpaaye to become the able helmsman of the second largest nation on the globe. The next term of Congress was creditable and after the second one, the Congress sang its Swan song.

Thereafter came into focus Narendra Modi in 2014 and he is steering his visionary path to a sure Third Term from 2024. Annamalai leading the BJP in Tamil Nadu is endeavouring to scale new heights in Tamil Nadu as his contribution to Modi’s remarkable success.