M Karunanidhi: How Kalaignar became ultimate alliance maker in Indian politics

Muthuvel Karunanidhi was a president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a regional party, but his political clout extended beyond the southern state and made him an indispensable leader in national politics with his abilities to sew up alliance since 1970.

From extending support to Indira Gandhi during Congress party’s split to the formation of National Front headed by VP Singh in 1989 in Chennai, Karunanidhi played an active role helping form a stable government at the centre by AB Vajpayee led NDA and Congress-led UPA.

DMK came to power in 1967 after unseating Congress party which ruled Tamil Nadu since Independence. After the sudden demise of party founder and the then chief minister CN Annadurai on February 10, 1969, Karunanidhi succeeded the leader whose popularity was so much 15 million people (a world record) attended it. He also becomes the party’s president on July 27, 1969, and continued to hold the post till his death. 

After Anna’s death, Karunanidhi used the split in the Congress party between the ruling faction led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and party’s old guard. When Tamil Nadu’s topmost Congress leader and former chief minister K Kamaraj sided with Congress’s old guard, DMK leader asked his party’s 25 Lok Sabha to support Indira Gandhi to weaken the former ruling party in the state. He also backed Indira Gandhi’s choice of VV Giri’s candidacy for Presidential election.

Karunanidhi enters into an alliance with Indira’s Congress which it opposed till 1967 and decides to go for an early election in 1971 along with Lok Sabha polls. Congress contested in nine Lok Sabha seats while conceding all the assembly seats to DMK which went on to win 184 seats, the most seats own by a party in the state. However, DMK opposed the imposition of Emergency which led to the dismissal of his government in 1976. Several DMK leaders arrested including Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin and nephew Murasoli Maran.

After his disappointing alliance with Janata party, Karunanidhi did not hesitate to align with Congress and he came out with a slogan: “Welcome Nehru’s daughter, give us a stable government”. DMK-Congress combine won 37 out of the 39 seats in the 1980 LS polls. In 1983, DMK parted ways with Congress over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

In 1989, Karunanidhi joined hands with VP Singh who broke away from Rajiv Gandhi led Congress party and announced the formation of the National Front at a rally in Marina Beach in Chennai.

DMK’s rise in national politics was phenomenal after 1996 and it has a dubious distinction of being part of three different formations from 1996 to 2013. 

DMK was part of the United Front government led by HD Deva Gowda and IK Gujaral between June 1996 and February 1998. When AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa pulled down 13-month-old AB Vajpayee government in 1999, DMK extended support to it. DMK-BJP alliance contented the Lok Sabha polls together and the Dravidian party was rewarded with plum portfolios in Vajpayee cabinet. 

In December 2003, DMK quit the BJP led NDA and joined the alliance with Congress to sweep all the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in 2004 Parliamentary polls. Karunanidhi supported Congress president Sonia Gandhi to head the government at the centre when the Opposition parties were raising her Italian origin.

But the DMK pulled out of the UPA government in March 2013 after Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and his party leader and former union minister A Raja were arrested by the CBI in connection with 2G scam case.

After the longest stint in the Centre for any regional party, DMK ended up without a seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which was spearheaded by his son and party treasurer MK Stalin.