The Other Name of DMK – Thirukkuvalai Muthuvel Karunanidhi

Chennai: Sometimes some slogans will attract people easily. Like that only, at some point of time, DMK followers and volunteers put forward the idea of expansion of DMK as Thirukkuvalai M Karunanidhi. The name Karunanidhi has become inseparable from the DMK organisation. That is the reason why the volunteers proposed the idea of having the expansion of Thirukkuvalai M Karunanidhi for DMK.

In the year 1969, C.N. Annadurai died unexpectedly. After that, 4th DMK General Assembly was held on 27th July 1969. In that Assembly only, Karunanidhi was selected as the leader of the DMK organisation for the first time. Following this, Karunanidhi became the official face of the DMK organisation. Even in the membership cards given to party's members, Karunanidhi's face was only presented as a symbol after Periyar and Annadurai.

From the moment of officially accepting the leadership in the year 1969, till 2008 Karunanidhi has been a unique personality of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). DMK's 13th General Assembly was held on 27th December 2008. In that Assembly, Karunanidhi was selected as the leader of the DMK organisation for the tenth time. It is a notable fact that, only a very few persons in the world have led a political movement for a very long time like Karunanidhi. It is also notable that Karunanidhi had been a competent leader in the political field till his last moments.

Annadurai started DMK in 1949 after separating from Periyar. For this, Periyar criticised DMK members very harshly. Even E.V.K. Sampath, a close relative of Periyar, did not stand by him. Instead he went and joined DMK which was started by Annadurai. Because of this, he got himself a place in the list of the most important second line of leaders. Along with E.V.K. Sampath, Nedunchezhian and others were also in the list of second line of leaders. All of them were in equal and parallel positions with Karunanidhi. But ultimately, Karunanidhi was only considered as the commander of Annadurai.

DMK Party's face after Annadurai

Karunanidhi was known for his competence, energy and vibrant actions. After the death of Annadurai, he gained the unanimous support of the party's MLAs (Members of Legislative Assemblies) and became the leader. During Annadurai's period itself a split occurred in the organisation for the first time. In the year 1961, due to some difference of opinion, E.V.K Sampath went and started the Tamil National Party. But he was not able to build and maintain the party as a stable one. So finally in 1964, he merged the Tamil National Party with the Congress Party.

During such difficult times also, Karunanidhi stood by Annadurai without any hesitation. After the first split, the second one was caused by Karunanidhi's close friend M.G. Ramachandran. When M.G. Ramachandran was in DMK, he used to lovingly call Karunanidhi as Lord (Aandavare). But later M.G. Ramachandran went on to do politics against Karunanidhi.

On 17th October 1972, M.G. Ramachandran started Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) against DMK. After a few years, he changed the name of the party to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). During the crisis period, it was found through information that Indira Gandhi was planning to disable the State parties. Because of this information only M.G. Ramachandran decided to change the name of the party from Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). According to Tamil Political historians, the period of formation of ADMK was known as the period of formation of great divide in DMK. After the formation of ADMK, both Karunanidhi and M.G.R acted as two poles in the political field.

Occurrence of consequent splits in DMK

In the year 1977, V. R. Nedunchezhian withdrew from DMK. At that point of time Nedunchezhian was the General Secretary of DMK. After withdrawal from DMK party, he started a new party called Makkal Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. This party formed an alliance with M.G.R. After that, the party was merged with ADMK.

The next biggest split in DMK was made by V. Gopalsamy. In the year 1993, V. Gopalsamy was expelled from DMK. Some voices said that, after some leaders like E.V.K. Sampath, M.G.R, Nedunchezhian and V. Gopalsamy left the party, the party will be lost in time. But on the contrary, it continued to travel in history. Even after some leaders left the party, Karunanidhi led the party very well. Even when DMK was an opposition party, Karunanidhi captured the hearts of many volunteers and followers through his powerful speeches. During the period when DMK was an opposition party, Karunanidhi wrote letters in Murasoli. These letters invoked a sense of spirit and served as a means of excitement among the followers. Particularly after 1980, Karunanidhi attracted the attention of the general audience and fans by going beyond the limits of politics and generations. He made this possible through his dialogues in the films Palaivana Rojakkal, Sattam Oru Vilayattu, Ore Raththam.

Growth of the party via Literature

During this time only, Karunanidhi started writing his life history in the name of Nenjukku Needhi in Dinamani Kathir magazine. But due to some political conflict of opinion with the magazine he stopped writing there. After this, Karunanidhi started a magazine of his own in the name of Kungumam and started writing his life history in the same name Nenjukku Needhi. It is notable that Karunanidhi gave equal importance to literature in the middle of his public life. His first novel was published in 1960 in the name Puthayal. His literary works gained momentum after the 1970s. On one hand he wrote his life history and on the other hand he was involved in films like Thenpandi Singam (1983), Ponnar Shankar (1987), Payum Puli Pandara Vanniyan (1991). His followers were fascinated by how he balanced his political life and literary life. They were astonished because he was a full time leader of a political organisation and at the same time he contributed equally to the literary world. His followers celebrated him by saying that there is no one like him. This multi-tasking capability only contributed to his personality growth. DMK lost in the by-elections which was conducted in Aruppukottai and Nellai (Tirunelveli) constituencies. At that time Karunanidhi wrote a political poem. This poem added to his already powerful personality and made him a loveable person beyond time.

Idiyamin Aatchiyil Idaitherthal - A poem written by Karunanidhi

In this poem, Karunanidhi compared the characters of the epic Ramayana with him and M.G.R. He compared himself with a character named Vali and he compared M.G.R with the main protagonist Rama. In the epic, Rama will defeat Vali. But Rama will employ some tricks to attain victory. This comparison was used in the poem when DMK lost in the by-elections. This literary comparison attracted even the opposition party members. In fact, he showed to others in the most practical way, how his literary talent can be used for the benefit of the party at all times. And those who have tasted the pleasure of his literary works believe that, DMK is Karunanidhi and Karunanidhi is DMK. That is exactly why they are saying that the new expansion of DMK is Thirukkuvalai Muthuvel Karunanidhi.