Rule of the Commoner: DMK and the Formations of the Political in Tamil Nadu, 1949–1967 byRajan Kurai Krishnan, Ravindran Sriramachandran and V M S Subagunarajan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022; pp xviii + 299, `895.
A review of the book, Rule of the Commoner: DMK and the Formations of the Political in Tamil Nadu, 1949–67 (2022), by Rupa Viswanath was published in EPW (1 April 2023). The authors wish to respond to the review by presenting some of the core issues that this book is concerned with, to enable a larger discussion of electoral democracy in India.
The Lok Sabha election results in Tamil Nadu clearly show the reconsolidation of the caste base and minorities and reinforcement of the Dravidian Tamil identity politics. The victory of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam establishes the second round of ideological discourse on linguistic cultural nationalism, secularism, and the regional aspirations within the framework of Hindutva. The election results in some ways indicate the reassertion of Dravidian identities and the key role for the Dravidian parties in the politics of the state.
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.
Not a day passes in Tamil Nadu without a protest by common people. In fact, some protests have been going on for months. Why is Tamil Nadu in ferment? Why are more and more people hitting the streets in anger? It is all because of a general distrust of the central government and the popular media. The people’s agitations crossed a certain line in the case of the demand to stop the Indian Premier League matches being played in Chennai, thus creating a divide in Tamil Nadu.
With the AIADMK's victory in the Sathankulam by-election, Jayalalithaa can once again reveal - and revel in - her enduring supremacy. All the same she is not one to let grass grow under her feet and is focused on next year's parliamentary poll. But it is hardly possible for her to ruminate over the national scene now, with her plate filled with regional - rather, local - problems. There is the running battle with the DMK and the acrimonious exchanges inside the assembly, with the debate turning to past events. Outside the house too, the fury of allegations and counter-allegations continues. Events have turned strongly dramatic with the Queen Mary's College affair.
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.
It is no secret that there is no branch of 'futurology' from which Jayalalitha, now getting ready for the Great Return, does not seek guidance, no action, votive offering or placatory ritual she will not undertake to nullify evil influences and promote good fortune. Her latest consultants are experts in vaastu, the sastra dealing with propitious planning, positioning and structuring of buildings and the like. The result has affected a certain statue in Chennai, a 40- year old landmark in the city.
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.
