March to national politics

There have been several efforts to project M.K. Stalin as a prime ministerial candidate

Twenty five years ago, in Tiruvarur, the then Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi was asked by a journalist why he was not aspiring for the post of Prime Minister. He replied :” I know my limitations”. The question was raised against the backdrop of a serious bid made by the founder of the Tamil Maanila congress (Moopanar) , G.K. Moopanar, to become prime minister following the resignation of H.D. Deve Gowda as the head of the United Front Regime . Today, concerted efforts are on to project Karunanidhi’ s son and Chief Minister M.k. Stalin as a prime ministerial candidate.

In the last couple of months , many events can be cited as attempts at promoting Mr. Stalin to the National scene. In early February, the chief Minister wrote to leaders of almost three dozen parties across the country, asking them to nominate their representatives to the All India federation of social justice. Later that months, kerala chief minster Pinarayi Vijayan , former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Janta Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav , and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah came to Chennai to participate in the launch of the first volume of Mr. Stalin’ s autobiography, Ungalil oruvan ( one among you) . A month later , in New Delhi, leaders of various non BJP opposition parties came together during the inauguration of the DMK’s office . Mr. Stalin’s condemnation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s observations on the hindi language and his participation at a seminar held last week during the CPI(M)’s party congress in Kannur were also viewed as part of his March towards national politics.

It is rather uncommon for a leader of Tamil Nadu to get national prominence. Other than Moopanar , Congress leader K. Kamaraj and AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa were talked about as prime ministerial material. While kamaraj was content playing the role of ‘kingmaker ‘ in 1964 and 1966 , Jayalalithaa, despite her turning the 2014 Lok sabha elections into a lady versus Modi fight , and her party bagging 37 seats out of 39 in Tamil Nadu, did not make it .

In the last three years , Mr Stalin has tasted success twice as a leader of coalition. In the 2019 Lok sabha elections, when he proposed the name of Mr . Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister, the DMK -led front captured 39 constituencies, including one in Puducherry. Two years later , it got a two thirds majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. After capturing power in the State, Mr. Stalin has continued to criticize the BJP on a host of issues . In the last 11 months , he has been particularly highlighting the importance of social justice, greater autonomy for the states and the Dravidian model of governance. Perhaps conscious of the criticism that Dravidian majors do not seek industrial investment in the way parties in other states do, Mr. Stalin has shown keenness in attracting investments in a big way . His visit to the UAE is the most recent indication of this. After he became Chief Minister in May 2021 , the state government signed 131 MoUs involving an investment of Rs 69,375 crore . Mr Stalin also announced that the State would hold the next Global Investors ‘ Meet by 2023 end , the previous two editions of which were held during the AIADMK regime . There are signs of his government willing to bite the bullet in economy -related matters , even as Mr. Stalin has been keeping all his political allies together. Though it is too early to talk about the compositions of political form