How the DMK has re-energised itself at 71

A few years ago, it appeared that the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam had outlived its utility. The issues that propelled its growth in the 1950s and 1960s like anti-North, anti-Aryan, anti-Hindi campaign and a call for state autonomy seemed to have run out of steam from the 1990s as the party became part of the very set-up it abhorred — Government of India.

The DMK, it seemed, could no longer afford to flog a dead horse as its prime movers — reservation for Other Backward Classes, right to property for women, rights to appointment as temples archakas for members of all communities, promotion of inter-caste marriages — had all been implemented and the benefits enjoyed by the people. With the issues of the past no longer relevant as far as the masses were concerned, the DMK stagnated. The party also seemed to have run out of ideas to ensure mass acceptance, while the AIADMK managed to capture the imagination of the people.