Movers and shakers of Tamil Nadu politics
2015 has been a roller-coaster ride for the who's who of Tamil Nadu politics, writes K. Karthikeyan.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-12-29 06:31 GMT
Rise of the phoenix
AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa won the legal battle in the assets case and her supporters called it the rise of the phoenix. She was back in the corridors of Fort St George, much to the envy of her political rivals who saw a glimmer of hope in the case till Justice Kumarasamy had his say. Soon, Jayalalithaa summoned the GIM (global investors meet) genie, which took AIADMK cadres happiness to intoxicating heights in September. However, in December, torrential rains flooded Chennai, and with it Jayalalithaa's hopes of stepping in to 2016 without complaints and controversies. Addressing the affected people as "dear voters" in R.K Nagar, setting off a tsunami in Adyar river from Chembarambakkam lake and limiting the "flood visit" to a sortie in a chopper were moments the AIADMK leader would probably want to forget in 2015.
Putting foot in his mouth
Faced with the challenge of keeping a thinned out Congress alive, mudslinging was the weapon Elangovan pulled out of his armoury, not knowing that it could nearly prove to be his undoing. Be it his party colleague Chidambaram or his BJP counterpart Tamilisai Soundararajan or chief minister J, Jayalalithaa, the TNCC president spared none as his acerbic tirades took him to courts and Congress headquarters equally alike in 2015. So virulent was his attack that the court kept him confined to Madurai once. A couple of women Congress functionaries preferred police complaint against him for harassment. Not to mention, a delegation of senior Congressmen even petitioned party chief Sonia Gandhi, all because of the inimitable badmouthing that made his name synonymous with slander. Incidentally, Elangovan scraped through, thanks to an eternally squabbling state Congress leaders and a fast approaching Assembly election that would cost TNCC a King's ransom to even save face. Ostracized by PWF and ignored by DMK, Elangovan's New Year begins with an alliance invitation that went unnoticed by DMDK.
Aiming for alternative
Just when he projected himself as the alternative to Dravidian parties, the CBI court in Delhi dealt a blow by ordering the framing of charges against former union health minister and PMK leader and MP Anbumani Ramadoss in a graft case. The father-son duo's cup of woes brimmed when BJP publicly disavowed the PMK for unilaterally declaring Anbumani CM candidate. The Vanniyar backed party's treatment of Seshasamudram communal riots saw Anbumani junior receive another jolt months later when a political greenhorn called PWF (People's Welfare Front) included the PMK in its list of untouchables. With a divided community owing allegiance to different political parties, it may take some more years for a casteist PMK and its CM candidate to fulfil his wish.
Stepping into father’s shoes
Denied the crown again for reasons known only to his father and party president M. Karunanidhi, DMK leader Stalin took a new avatar in 2015 when he became whatever he has not been thus far - accessible and outspoken. He had his "all is fair in love and war" moment when he rubbed shoulders with MDMK general secretary Vaiko in a wedding so much so he had cadres speculate that Vaiko would join the DMK fold. But circumstances so conspired that Vaiko and Stalin crossed swords a few months later. From the confines of Tamil Nadu, the DMK prince-in-waiting went northward and shared the dais with the likes of Nitish Kumar, Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad as the Mahagatbandhan stormed to power in Bihar. Then came the Namakku Naamey tour. The trademark red-black bordered karai veshti made way for well-ironed dark trousers and shirts and branded sports shoes. The symbolic bullock cart and bicycle rides of the tour kept critics and meme-crazy netizens engaged as much as it enthused rural voters. Whether it helped connect with the masses or not, Stalin's tour brought the DMK's hate-quotient down a few notches.
To be or not to be...
Even the festivity of the final week of the year was no excuse to the actor turned politician, Vijayakanth who rubbed the media on the wrong side. Pertinently, the harmless media fury will be the least of concerns of the most sought after man of Tamil Nadu politics at the moment. Covers of most political magazines published in Tamil Nadu in the last fortnight will bear testimony to the fact that the twilight of 2015 and dawn of 2016 will be his to celebrate. With his stakes increasing every passing day even in a year of hibernation, who will the Captain align with (in 2016) is already tipped to be the biggest and much awaited political decision of the year ahead.
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