Eighteen years after it was launched in his native Madurai on September 14, 2005, Vijayakant’s Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK)is at a crossroads. Will the DMDK, once touted as an alternative to the two Dravidian majors — the DMK and the AIADMK — survive post Vijayakant?
The answer doesn’t sound encouraging, say political pundits, unless Vijayakant’s wife and the new DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant pulls off a miracle.
From a party that surprised the state’s political scene with an 8.3% vote share in the 2006 assembly polls, it deteriorated so much that it got less than0.5 % in the 2021 assembly election. While the low share is also because it contested only 60 seats, that the party got to contest only so many shows its falling significance.
When an actor-turned-politician disappears from the scene, his fans would remain committed to his memories, but not necessarily the cadres of his political party who came together because of the founder’s charisma. Here lies the challenge for the successor.“
Only one section of the DMDK’s vote base was made of fans. The other section constituted voters who yearned for a change. When they sense the party is on the wane they vote for some other party,’’ says a former DMDK MLA.
Though opinion on Premalatha’s political acumen is divided, functionaries see her as a bold woman who has administrative abilities.
“Captain used to run the party like a family, not like a company,” says a senior district functionary from central TN. A large section of the cadres find it hard to see Premalatha, her brother L K Sudheesh or son Vijaya Prabhakaran in place of their beloved leader.
The DMDK not only suffers a leadership crisis now, but also lacks able commanders. Many leaders like Panruti S Ramachandran, K Pandiarajan and V C Chandrakumar have left the party. Vijayakant was unfazed when they quit because he knew his fans-turned-cadres would stay loyal to him despite the desertion of such leaders. But for the neutral voter, who backed the DMDK hoping theparty would offer an alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK, such desertionseroded the trust.
Panruti S Ramachandran, who was the DMDK presidium chairman for eight years is apprehensive of the future of DMDK. “Now the DMDK is becoming irrelevant and it would be a formidable task for Premalatha to build the party,” says Ramachandran.
For Premalatha and her son Vijaya Prabhakaran, it may prove an uphill task to rebuild the party without Vijayakant.
The answer doesn’t sound encouraging, say political pundits, unless Vijayakant’s wife and the new DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant pulls off a miracle.
From a party that surprised the state’s political scene with an 8.3% vote share in the 2006 assembly polls, it deteriorated so much that it got less than0.5 % in the 2021 assembly election. While the low share is also because it contested only 60 seats, that the party got to contest only so many shows its falling significance.
When an actor-turned-politician disappears from the scene, his fans would remain committed to his memories, but not necessarily the cadres of his political party who came together because of the founder’s charisma. Here lies the challenge for the successor.“
Only one section of the DMDK’s vote base was made of fans. The other section constituted voters who yearned for a change. When they sense the party is on the wane they vote for some other party,’’ says a former DMDK MLA.
Though opinion on Premalatha’s political acumen is divided, functionaries see her as a bold woman who has administrative abilities.
“Captain used to run the party like a family, not like a company,” says a senior district functionary from central TN. A large section of the cadres find it hard to see Premalatha, her brother L K Sudheesh or son Vijaya Prabhakaran in place of their beloved leader.
The DMDK not only suffers a leadership crisis now, but also lacks able commanders. Many leaders like Panruti S Ramachandran, K Pandiarajan and V C Chandrakumar have left the party. Vijayakant was unfazed when they quit because he knew his fans-turned-cadres would stay loyal to him despite the desertion of such leaders. But for the neutral voter, who backed the DMDK hoping theparty would offer an alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK, such desertionseroded the trust.
Panruti S Ramachandran, who was the DMDK presidium chairman for eight years is apprehensive of the future of DMDK. “Now the DMDK is becoming irrelevant and it would be a formidable task for Premalatha to build the party,” says Ramachandran.
For Premalatha and her son Vijaya Prabhakaran, it may prove an uphill task to rebuild the party without Vijayakant.