The need of the hour is a conscious reorientation towards the tenets of the Dravidian movement in the context of the current aspirations of the people of the state.
As the mass euphoria over Jayalalitha's by-election victory and resumption of chief ministership fades, one is left wondering about the secret of this extraordinary woman's success.
While the regrouping of the DMK and the AIADMK alliances and the two incidents - the dramatic arrest of M Karunanidhi and the installation of Jayalalitha to the chief minister's post - may well have influenced voting patterns, essentially, it is the change in character of politics that has determined the outcome. A case in point is the unexpectedly good showing of the BJP at the local level.
The Supreme Court's decision declaring Jayalalitha's appointment as chief minister of Tamil Nadu unconstitutional and void is notable, most of all, for the capacity for crisis management displayed by the court.
The simmering feud unfolding in the state has some ugly, even dangerous portents for the future. Vengeance and vituperation are now ingrained in the political culture of the state and though the cause may be the deep political rivalry between two parties or two individuals, it is unlikely to vanish should the scenario change.
The state government has been making public noises about closing down the 'uzhavar shandhaies' (farmers' markets) set up by the DMK government, to enable farmers to get their produce to consumers directly without middlemen and commission agents siphoning off the profits. The proposal has sparked widespread concern among farmers, consumers and even some allies of the AIADMK.
The ferocity of the attacks launched against the Tamil Nadu governor for having called upon Jayalalitha to form the government has transgressed the limits of fair criticism. The fault after all lies with the electorate for having elected a person who has been convicted to lead them. The malady lies with civil society as a whole, its paraphernalia having been appropriated by bigots.
While the AIADMK vote share has gone up significantly, corruption charges against Jayalalitha were not vote-catching slogans. After all, the AIADMK under Jayalalitha has emerged as a 'rural industry' which has become a channel for 'money circulation' that the party manages to mobilise while in power. Its return to power has much to do with ensuring a return to status quo, especially in the western industrial regions of the state. Nevertheless, the poll results are likely to bring about changes in the political landscape, because it is now clear that populist mobilisation based on the dichotomy of anti-Aryanisation versus Dravidian nativity will no longer yield results.
The Left's obsession with anti-BJPism has been taken to absurd lengths in Tamil Nadu. It has invested what is a fight for power between the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu, in which the BJP is virtually uninvolved, with secular/communal connotations and, on those false premises, chosen to join the AIADMK-led front, turning a blind eye to the proven charges of corruption against Jayalalitha. Worse, the Left has actively opposed the formation of a third front, even though in the long run the Left in Tamil Nadu will gain only by expanding its base and aligning with parties such as the TMC, thereby loosening the duopoly of power of DMK and AIADMK.
