The DMK chief M Karunanidhi never had such a nerve-racking spectacle within his family - the younger of his politically active sons wants the party to do the best in what appears to be a bad election, while the older son is bent upon wreaking havoc.
Considering the situation the DMK is in - no big allies, a very strong AIADMK and no anti-incumbency wave against the principal opponent - Stalin, the younger son, is not doing badly. His rally in north Chennai was a huge success.
People in large numbers, including women and children, waited for hours at the venue to listen to him where he spoke with impressive optimism. Party workers were enthusiastic and arrangements were more than grand. There was absolutely nothing to hint that Stalin had any fear of taking on Jayalalithaa.
Even his speech indicated the at he didn’t fear an erosion as many observers have predicted, particularly when the party is contesting elections in a mix of unfavourable conditions. He focussed most of his speech on Jaya, describing her as a leader who doesn’t mix with the people. He said that she campaigned from a helicopter and refused to understand the real problems faced by the people.
He also said that she has frozen the development initiatives that the DMK had begun. Even as Stalin waxed eloquent on his party’s possibilities, elsewhere in the state, his older brother Alagiri was plotting to dent his chances, if any. Dismissed from the party for indiscipline, he’s pulling out all stops to damage the DMK.
He has already made an open call to his supporters to defeat the party and is engaged in serious parleys with his family’s detractors such as MDMK. Whether it has any merit or not, many observers feel that the Alagiri’s dissidence was somewhat responsible for the near-complete drubbing of the DMK in the southern districts in the assembly elections in 2011.
MDMK’s Vaiko, who had been expelled from the DMK years ago - seemingly to remove the obstacle for Stalin’s rise as the next leader of the party - has asked for his support in the four southern constituencies that his party is contesting as part of the NDA. While decrying his father and brother, Alagiri has spoken high of Modi and Jayalalithaa. Given that most of the contests are multi-cornered, he may try to influence the outcome in at least five constituencies.
However, since Stalin had done his home-work and all that is essential to control the party machinery and cadres, his clout is only speculative and nobody knows his real strength, which will remain unmeasured even after the elections. But what can be visibly measured is the contrast in their enthusiasm and efforts - Stalin wants to win while Alagiri desperately wants his brother to lose.
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