Kalaignar death anniversary demonstrated reinvented Cong-DMK ties

CHENNAI: One of the defining moments of former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s fifth death anniversary was the image of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paying floral tributes to the Dravidian stalwart at the party office in Parliament.

At the outset the event might seem like a fulfilment of alliance obligation or simple political decorum, but a revisit to the not so distant past would demonstrate a reinvention of the Congress-DMK ties.

Memories of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is the topic of debate since his reinstatement as MP by the Lok Sabha secretariat Monday, once ‘avoiding a visit to Karunanidhi’s Gopalapuram residence during his trip of Chennai even when they were in alliance in 2016, must be etched in the minds of the DMK cadres.

The two parties have travelled afar since the 2016 acrimony and redefined their ties since 2019 Lok Sabha polls when DMK president M K Stalin proposed Rahul for PM candidate even without the Congress willing to do it.

Pan out to 2023, the Gandhis visit to the DMK Parliament office Monday showed the amount of attitudinal change the national party has gone through and its renewed perception of the DMK stalwart.

Writer and DMK functionary Manushyaputhiran attributed the change to realization in the Congress and said, “Kalaignar and DMK were the first to take up the principles of federal centre and autonomous state many decades ago. Now the whole country is raising it. Many non-BJP parties are raising the issue of federalism and state autonomy now. The state parties have realized it because of the BJP. Not only the Congress, the non-BJP parties have come to the realization that Kalaignar was the face of state autonomy and father figure of democracy.”

Adding that Chief Minister cum DMK chief M K Stalin played a crucial role in stitching together the INDIA alliance, Manushyaputhiran said, “Kalaignar is an icon of democratic politics. Stalin has sustained it by playing a major role in achieving national-level unity among opposition. Rahul Gandhi is wary of it. His (Rahul) attitude and approach changed long ago. Rahul and Congress have made many compromises with regional parties. We saw it in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.”