The row over Karunanidhi’s ‘Anna way-Periyar way’ remark during 1991 election campaign

Unaware of Tamil Nadu going to beryllium the tract of the gruesome assassination of erstwhile Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on with 15 others astatine Sriperumbudur connected May 21 successful 1991, the State, till then, witnessed the run-up to the elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assembly successful a mode nary antithetic from the erstwhile occasions. Originally, May 26, 1991 was fixed arsenic the day of polling successful the State. But, it was postponed to June 15 successful the aftermath of the assassination.

In tune with the State’s characteristic, the canvass run past excessively reached feverish transportation with leaders from assorted parts of the state descending and section leaders launching an all-out effort to sway the voters. Public and thoroughfare country meetings were each going on, arsenic usual, with large governmental parties keeping the cadres successful bully humour - which meant providing them food, funds, and liquor successful galore cases.

According to an estimation enactment retired by The Hindu in a study connected May 12, 1991, a campaigner for the Assembly spot would person to cough up betwixt ₹6 lakh and ₹10 lakh, depending connected the creation and dispersed of the constituency, portion a Lok Sabha campaigner whitethorn person to find thing from ₹25 lakh to ₹30 lakh. “Perhaps the parties whitethorn beryllium successful a presumption to connection 20 per cent of this, the remainder depends connected the power and resourcefulness of the contestants,” it stated.

Snap elections

Both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly had faced drawback polls. The ninth Lok Sabha, which was formed connected December 2, 1989, was to past till December 1994 but was dissolved connected March 13, 1991. Likewise, the ninth Legislative Assembly, which was constituted connected February 6, 1989, was dissolved connected January 30, 1991. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’s assembly of Ministers, led by M. Karunanidhi, was removed by the Union government, which was past headed by Chandra Shekhar, who, successful turn, depended connected the Congress and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for enactment successful the Lok Sabha. Tamil Nadu came nether the President’s regularisation for the 4th clip successful its past which remains the past specified instance.

As the past President R. Venkataraman had approved the Union Cabinet’s connection for the proclamation of the President’s rule, the DMK inactive holds a grudge against him. Venkataraman died successful January 2009. On his decision, Venkataraman, successful his memoir, My Presidential Years, justified it by saying the bureau of President was not an “appellate oregon supervisory” authorization implicit that of Prime Minister. “It was my work to enactment connected the proposal of the Cabinet truthful agelong arsenic the projected enactment was not violative of provisions of the Constitution,” Venkataraman pointed out.

The dismissal of the DMK authorities was much arguable than immoderate different akin cognition due to the fact that the past Governor of Tamil Nadu, S.S. Barnala, had refused to nonstop a study to the Centre recommending imposition of President’s regularisation successful the State nether Article 356, arsenic dictated by the Centre. For this, Venkataraman’s mentation was that it was “beyond dispute” that the Union authorities could enactment connected the ground of a study of Governor oregon otherwise. So, the lack of the Governor’s study was “not an infirmity,” the erstwhile President stated, recalling that successful 1977, the Janata authorities astatine the Centre dismissed the councils of Ministers successful 9 States without reports of the Governors concerned.

As was the norm since the 1977 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections successful Tamil Nadu, the formations led by the DMK and the AIADMK were the main players. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) contested connected its ain successful 1991. While the DMK-led conjugation included the Janata Dal and 2 Left parties; the AIADMK had the Congress, the United Communist Party of India (UCPI), the Republican Party of India, Forward Bloc, Farmers Toilers enactment and the Human Rights Party arsenic its allies. The DMK contested successful 171 Assembly seats and the AIADMK successful 164.

Right from the connection go, the AIADMK-led confederation was tipped to triumph the Assembly polls. This was nary surprise, arsenic adjacent successful the November 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the conjugation won successful each but 39 constituencies, the objection being Nagapattinam. It was up of its main adversary and others successful 227 Assembly segments and the DMK-headed front, six seats, with the PMK surging to the beforehand presumption successful 1 conception - Taramangalam of Salem district.

Opinion polls excessively favoured the AIADMK-Congress combine, which was headed by J. Jayalalithaa then. An aboriginal nationalist sentiment survey commissioned by Frontline, a sister work of The Hindu, successful 3 Assembly constituencies successful Madras (now Chennai) revealed a 7 percent constituent pb for the AIADMK-Congress (I) beforehand implicit the DMK-led front. Carried retired by the Apt Research Group during April 5-7, 1991, the “early days” survey revealed that the AIADMK-Congress alliance’s ballot stock was 45.9% against the DMK-led front’s 38.72%. A period later, The Hindu-MARG conducted an sentiment canvass successful Tamil Nadu which showed the confederation was much oregon little successful the aforesaid commanding presumption arsenic successful November 1989 erstwhile it won a monolithic victory.

It was against this backdrop that the DMK president and erstwhile Chief Minister Karunanidhi stunned governmental observers by his statement, during his run successful Coimbatore territory connected May 15, that “if we win, we volition travel the way of Anna [DMK laminitis and erstwhile Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai] and if defeated, we volition spell the Periyar [Dravida Kazhagam laminitis E.V. Ramasamy] way.”

A quality study published by this paper connected May 16, 1991, stated the remark had created “some confusion.” He was speedy to clarify aboriginal successful the time that by the word ‘Anna way,’ helium meant that the DMK would signifier the government, and “not to contention successful elections” was what helium meant by the word “Periyar way.” Even this clarification did not fulfill galore and a spokesperson of the Dravidian large had to accidental aboriginal that the basal of the DMK would beryllium known aft the results were announced.

R. Kannan, the biographer of Annadurai and M.G. Ramachandran and the writer of The DMK Years, explains the DMK was founded for the explicit intent of warring elections. “This was the lone crushed Anna and others near Periyar,” helium adds.

Elaborating, helium says Periyar’s mode is to spell backmost to the basics, “an impossibility successful electoral politics. Electoral authorities entails endless compromise and accommodation.”

He besides recalls however Karunanidhi, successful August 1983, instantly aft the anti-Tamil pogrom successful Sri Lanka, made an connection that his enactment would not marque an effort astatine powerfulness and the Congress could regularisation the State for 10 years, if the Centre — which was led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — sent troops to the neighbouring country.

Karunanidhi himself laid to remainder the enactment that surrounded his reflection connected “Anna way-Periyar way” astatine a nationalist gathering successful Madurai successful June 1991. “He ever wanted to enactment similar Periyar and would ever travel the way shown by Anna, Periyar and the Justice Party,” The Hindu on reported connected June 9, 1991.

Unsurprisingly, the 1991 Assembly election’s results were one-sided with the AIADMK-Congress harvester bagging 225 Assembly seats. Karunanidhi was the lone DMK campaigner to triumph from Harbour. He aboriginal resigned and successful the bye-elections to Harbour and Egmore constituencies (which were earlier countermanded), the DMK candidates emerged victorious.