Ten seats for Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), five each for the CPI and the CPI (Marxist) or CPI(M), and none for actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM)—the seat-sharing arrangement in the Dravida Munnnetra Kazhagam-led (DMK) alliance seems to have revealed a new face of DMK president and incumbent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin as a leader who will not hesitate to take tough decisions.

So far, Stalin has been seen as a likeable leader, unwilling to offend anyone, either friend or foe. In 2016, when AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister for a second successive stint, Stalin was caught off-guard. He was returning home and found himself trapped in a post-victory traffic snarl that lasted hours. But he stayed patiently in his car, not bothering to step out and complain or create a scene. It was the media that reported it all later.

Back in the 1980s too, when he was already a Member of the Legislative Assembly, he used to keep a low profile. I have seen him collecting the day’s papers at the Assembly secretariat, smiling at anyone who greeted him, and walking swiftly past without fuss.

Rarely would any of us media persons seek to buttonhole him either, for he would not have anything to say. “Thalaivarai kelunga” (Ask the leader, meaning his father and the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi) would be his stock response.

He did not take active part in the proceedings either. It always looked like he was just marking attendance, quietly slipping in and moving out quickly. Before that, when Karunanidhi floated the DMK’s youth wing with the intent of promoting his son, Stalin kept largely to himself, much to the annoyance of his father, who was impatient to see him make a mark.

As the Mayor of Chennai Corporation, Stalin avoided publicity and fanfare. He did his job during the term (1996-2001) and was re-elected, but when the Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government brought in a special legislation to have him unseated, he left quietly. He then actually went out of public eye for a while.

However, Stalin was always what could be called a suave operator behind the scenes. Unlike his brash and much more visible older brother Azhagiri, Stalin got his way in the things that mattered, without making any noise.

Rise of a tough bossman

Now, though, the gloves are off and it is becoming clear that he will not hesitate to enforce his will, whether ensuring a smooth transition for his son Udhayanidhi, already anointed Deputy Chief Minister in the outgoing Cabinet, or choosing which allies to keep and whom to cast out.

This is certainly somewhat in contrast to his father’s style of functioning. Karunanidhi had to wage a long battle of attrition, temporising several times, before he could successfully install Stalin as his successor.

During the Emergency, Stalin, 22, was hauled in under the dreaded MISA and reportedly treated rather roughly in prison. But this never became a major DMK narrative, which testifies either to Stalin’s own understated style or to his father’s political priorities.

Karunanidhi was a strong leader who kept the DMK party machinery intact and energised through the long days when the party was out of power. If Stalin, despite lacking his father’s charisma or oratorical skills, could still win election after election, it is essentially thanks to the party cadre, who were always kept in good humour and allowed a modicum of agency.

Inner-party elections in the DMK have always been animated, high-voltage dramas, with even candidates endorsed by Karunanidhi sometimes biting the dust. Public meetings were held regularly across the State. Regional satraps could lord it over the party so long as they did not challenge Karunanidhi’s leadership. It is this tradition that has stood the son in good stead.

Even in grooming Stalin, Karunanidhi was in no hurry, not because he feared challenges from senior party leaders but chiefly because of strident opposition from Azhagiri. Of the leaders who did challenge his choice, Vaiko was conveniently expelled with the tacit consent of the others.

Stalin’s promotion was gradual, starting in the 1980s and culminating in 2009 when he was made Deputy Chief Minister and subsequently elevated as the party’s working president when the father became incapacitated.

If Azhagiri could not get his way and ascend to the top slot, it was essentially because he had acquired considerable notoriety by then with his strong-arm tactics. All through that time, while Karunanidhi hemmed and hawed, Stalin quietly went about solidifying his position by lobbying with the party’s district functionaries, who count for a lot in the DMK.

There is a powerful image of Stalin ceremoniously receiving the national flag at Karunanidhi’s funeral, when it should have been Azhagiri’s privilege. The elder son could do little except protest in private. He has never been able to regain his hold in the party, as Stalin would simply not allow it.

Back in 2001, it was at Stalin’s instance that Karunanidhi cobbled together a coalition of various caste outfits, provoking his nephew and “conscience-keeper” Murasoli Maran to storm off in public. The caste alliance did not help and Jayalalithaa won, but Stalin’s place remained secure as he played his cards shrewdly.

When half-sister Kanimozhi was jailed in the spectrum scam, she did not blame anyone else for her plight. Her loyalty paid off, ensuring her a corner in Stalin’s court.

Kanimozhi seemed to be out of the limelight for a while when the battle between the brothers was raging and she was seen a little too often with Azhagiri, but she quickly mended fences with Stalin. She will be hoping to be around as a key figure in the party when her nephew Udhayanidhi takes over.

Firm decisions on seat-sharing

The seat-sharing deal shows that it took protracted talks before Stalin conceded the Congress three more seats than what the party contested in 2021. However, he succeeded in making the CPI and the CPI(M) agree to take one less seat each and Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) two less, while adding two seats to the Dalit outfit Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), which was still two less than what the VCK had desired.

However, the surprise of the pack, the DMDK founded by Vijayakanth, got a massive chunk of 10 seats, when that party’s vote bank itself is said to be questionable, less than half a percentage point going by the last Lok Sabha election results. Various theories are doing the rounds on why Stalin has been so large-hearted to the DMDK, including the speculation that he might be using the Vijayakanth factor to counter the Vijay threat (it was under Vijayakanth’s wing that Vijay first entered cinema).

In the case of actor Kamal Haasan, Stalin was ready to allot two seats but wanted the MNM candidates to contest on the DMK symbol. The star protested and withdrew, but promised to campaign for the alliance.

At this point, it would seem that nobody dares question the DMK supremo’s decisions. A new Stalin is emerging, determined and forceful. There is even talk that the famous chemistry between him and “brother” Rahul Gandhi has worn off into a more formal relationship.

If the arc of political accommodation was long for Karunanidhi, although always bending eventually towards his self-interest, in the son’s case, the arc seems to be growing shorter by the day.

The author is a Chennai-based senior journalist.

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