Dravidian parties
Encyclopedia
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state
of Tamil Nadu
, India
, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement
of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
.
The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India,
where most of the Northern Indian
, Eastern Indian
and Western Indian
languages are classified as Indo-Aryan
, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian
.
Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India on the politics and economy of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thus Dravidian politics incorporates elements of Tamil Nationalism
and has found support only in Tamil Nadu.
Most Dravidian parties are offshoots of Dravidar Kazhagam
(DK);. There are also a few other parties in Tamil Nadu that did not arise from DK directly. Nevertheless, both the former and the latter are considered as Dravidian parties because of the similarities of their ideals and goals.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) have been the major players among the Dravidian parties since the mid-1960s.
Since the 1967 legislative assembly
elections, only the DMK and the AIADMK have formed governments in Tamil Nadu. These two parties are political rivals.
Barring political alliances
with the DMK or AIADMK, since the 1990s no other political party has won more than a few seats in the Indian parliament or state legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu. Since 1996, members of the DMK and AIADMK have held portfolios in the cabinet
of the central Indian government. Other major Dravidian party is Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
.
Political media
is pervasive in Dravidian politics, with five of the seven chief ministers from these parties being directly involved in Tamil cinema
, either as script writers or actors. Recently television channels owned by these parties have been used for political propaganda purposes.
has put in doubt the racial aspect of this classification, the classification is valid on the basis of language families. Most northern Indian languages are classified as Aryan
, whereas most southern Indian languages are Dravidian languages
. Sanskrit
, a classical language
of the Aryan group, was considered to be a sacred language, whereas in the former British Indian state of Madras Presidency
, it was a commonly held opinion in that the Dravidian tongues were inferior. The linguistic divide was even more pronounced given the political dominance of Brahmins in South India.
The Brahmins, who occupied the higher strata in the Indian caste system, accounted for 3% of the population in Madras Presidency, but held 60 to 79% of the positions in major government departments in the early 20th century. It was observed by some leaders from the south that Brahmins were Aryans, and hence non-natives, who had taken positions in the government that should rightfully be filled by people indigenous to the area.
The antipathy towards Sanskrit compounded with the animosity against the Brahimins paved the way for the rise of Dravidian politics in Madras Presidency.
An early pineer in Dravidian politics was Iyothee Thass
in the late 19th century. His efforts brought together the lower caste Dravidians with the establishment of the Dravida Mahajana Sabha organisation in 1891. A major leap in Dravidian politics was the formation of the Madras United League by non-Brahmin intellectuals, who considered the dominance of Brahmins in civil administration a threat to the non-Brahmin majority.
The League was initially started as a workgroup that helped non-Brahmin students in Madras with accommodation. It later grew into a political party
under the efforts of leaders like Sir Pitti Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair. The party was named South Indian Liberal Federation (S. I. L. F.) - popularly known as the Justice party
.
. While the Justice Party saw this as an opportunity to displace Brahmin dominance, the British government considered it favourable, since the Indian National Congress
spearheading the Indian independence movement
was dominated by Brahmins. The Justice party emerged as a winner in the 1920 general elections and brought about the reforms it had campaigned for, including establishing communal reservation
through affirmative action
for the first time in the country, and brought temples
under state control. Soon after their electoral success the animosity between Tamil
and Telugu
members deepened, thus weakening the party. Nevertheless, the Justice Party electorally dominated the presidency for 17 years until it was defeated by the Indian National Congress party in 1937. Although out of power, the Justice Party was involved in demonstrations across the Province against the introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject of study in schools by a Congress
-led government, which led to the detainment of scores of Tamil scholars, academics and Justice Party leaders. This and other struggles for social justice helped create the social base of what emerged as the Dravidian Movement.
, a leader of the Dravidian Movement, who became its president. In 1944, Periyar changed the name of the party to Dravidar Kazhagam
(Dravidian organisation in English). This move was opposed by some members of the Party who continued contesting elections as the Justice Party under the leadership of P. T. Rajan
until 1957. Periyar as the president of Dravidiar Kazhagam considered that contesting in elections would lead to compromises in principles and withdrew Dravida Kazhagam from parliamentary politics.
In 1947, when India attained independence, Periyar called for members of the Dravidar Kazhagam to boycott the celebrations. According to him, the Indian National Congress was dominated by Brahmins. He predicted that an independent India would bring South Indians, especially Tamils, under the dominance of Brahmins and North Indians. In other words, according to Periyar, independence would lead to the replacement of British dominance with Brahmin and North Indian dominance. He felt an independent nation called Dravida Nadu for the South Indians would be the best solution. Periyar declared 15 August 1947, the day of Indian independence, as a day of mourning. This move was opposed by other leaders within the party, including C. N. Annadurai
. Annadurai viewed independence as an achievement for all of India rather than solely of the Aryan North.
On July 9, 1948 Periyar married woman 40 years his junior, leading to a split in the party.
The leaders of the splitting faction eventually formed a new party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
or DMK (Progressive Dravidian Organisation in English), in 1949.
and E. V. K. Sampath
endeavoured to achieve their goals through parliamentary election processes.
Sampath, who had earlier forfeited his seniority with Periyar's party to join DMK, saw the call for an independent Dravida Nadu was turning out to be an unrealistic goal.
Sampath expressed concerns over using film stars to increase the popularity of the party. His views led him to cross swords with the major leaders of the party and eventually caused the first split in DMK. Sampath left DMK to begin his own party called the Tamil National Party
.
Although leaders like Annadurai were firm in their separatist stance, the reorganisation of states in India
on a linguistic basis removed Kannada, Telugu
and Malayalam speaking regions from Madras Presidency, leaving behind a predominantly Tamil Madras State
. Giving in to political realities, Annadurai and his DMK changed their call for an independent Dravida Nadu for Dravidians to an independent Tamil Nadu for Tamils. Annadurai saw that remaining in the Indian Union meant accepting linguistic domination and economic backwardness. However, the Sino-Indian war
brought about changes in the Indian constitution. The Sixteenth Amendment (also known as the Anti-Secessionist Amendment) banned any party with sectarian principles from contesting elections. Consequently DMK preferred to keep the issue of Dravida Nadu on the backburner.
From then on DMK's main focus targeted the dominance of North Indians in the Union Government of India.
DMK leaders also perceived that the attempts to declare Hindi as the sole national language of India was an attempt impose an Aryan language unwilling people in the South. According to the terms of the Indian constitution dated January 26, 1965, English
as an official language of India would come to an end and Hindi would become the sole official language. However, the Madras Anti-Hindi agitation
in 1965 compelled the Central Government in India change its language policy, allowing English to continue as an official language.
Although DMK was not directly involved in the violence that marred the agitation, the protest itself catapulted DMK to political power in the State in the 1967 legislative elections.
The electoral victory in 1967 led to an electoral fusion
among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in the Opposition
votes. Rajagopalachari, a former senior leader of the Congress Party, had by then left the Congress and launched the right-wing Swatantra Party
. He played a vital role in bringing about the electoral fusion amongst the opposition parties to align against the Congress.
M. G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was an actor
in Tamil cinema and a well known propagator of Dravidian ideologies in his movies since 1953. In the 1970s as the then treasurer
of DMK, he played a vital part in popularising the party, bringing many of his fans as supporters.
A political feud between MGR and the party's president M. Karunanidhi
had been ongoing since the death of Annadurai in 1969. It arose from Karunanidhi calling himself the "Mujib
of Tamil Nadu". Soon after the electoral victory of DMK in 1971, some of senior members expressed concern that MGR's popularity was growing strong within the party cadres.
Karunanidhi made several attempts to weaken MGR's position within the party. MGR retaliated with corruption charges and a call for a boycott of the party's General Council.
DMK's General Council suspended MGR from the party stating that he had involved himself in "anti party activities". Although MGR had lost support from top ranking leaders within the DMK, the strong public reaction following his suspension demonstrated his popular support within the party's volunteers. Inspired by this support from the party's lower cadres and his fans, MGR launched his own party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
, AIADMK (named after Annadurai: Anna was his nickname).
as the regional equivalent of her Congress (I) Party. Indira Gandhi was the head of her party, which she split from the Indian National Congress
with the support of lower cadres and opposition from senior party leaders.
Thus AIADMK could show itself as an equally strong alternative to that of DMK with which Congress (I) could ally. From then on, the Congress (I) Party fought elections in the State in alliance with one of the two parties. Ever since then the Dravidian parties have helped the Congress (I) sustain itself in the State, but with limited ambitions.
In 1977, the DMK government, led by Karunanidhi, was dismissed under corruption charges by the Central government of India, led by Congress (I), which had by then allied with AIADMK.
, a veteran actor of Tamil Cinema
, was a founding member of DMK party. The actor himself was nick-named Shivaji by Periyar E. V. Ramasami after his role portraying the Maratha
king. Nevertheless, differences between the party leadership and the actor widened since he perceived that M. G. Ramachandran, his acting contemporary, was given more prominence than himself. Furthermore, he started distancing himself from the party's anti-religious atheistic stance to satisfy his religious fans. Hence when E. V. K. Sampath launched his own splinter from DMK (in the name of Tamil National Party), Sivaji left DMK and joined Sampath. However, Tamil National Party itself was short-lived and was merged into Congress. Sivaji, although a member of Congress party, maintained distance from the party activities and concentrated more on his film career. After the death of M. G. Ramachandran in 1987, Sivaji re-launched his political career with his own party Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani (Tamil Nadu Development Front in English). The party lost every single seat it contested for in the 1989 elections. Sivaji dissolved the party, asked his party cadres to join the Janata Dal
and openly regretted his decision to have ever launched his own party.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Progressive Dravidian Renaissance Organisation in English) or MDMK is yet another offshoot of the DMK. It was formed in May 1994, after V. Gopalswamy
(popularly known as Vaiko), a senior leader and Member of Parliament
from DMK, was expelled from the party. Barring, perhaps, their more radical support for an independent Tamil Eelam
in the Sri Lankan crisis
,
the MDMK do not have major ideological differences with the other Dravidian parties. MDMK shares its goals with the DMK and AIADMK in respect to State autonomy
, constitutional protection for the reservation
formula and making Tamil an official language of the Indian Union. In 2004, Tamil film director and actor T. Rajendar
who was earlier expelled from DMK launched the All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(All India Principled Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in English).
took over as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
This appointment was opposed by former actress and politician J. Jayalalithaa
. The resistance from Jayalalithaa eventually led to the dismissal of the AIADMK government, the shortest lived government in the history of Tamil Nadu, by the Central Government of India then led by Rajiv Gandhi
. The antagonism built up and the AIADMK split into two fragments.
The Election Commission of India
refused to accept either of them as the successor of the original party and separate electoral symbols were allocated.
The faction led by MGR's widow chose to use two doves, with a large dove holding leafy branch in its beak, as if feeding the smaller dove. Jayalalithaa's faction was represented by a crowing cock.
Although both factions lost the 1989 state elections, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK won 27 seats when compared to just one won by Janaki's. Following the election defeat, Janaki retired from active politics and the two party factions rejoined into one party.
Other breakaways in AIADMK were witnessed in 1990s, when R. M. Veerappan
and S. Tirunavukkarasu, due to personal differences with Jayalalithaa, formed MGR Kazhagam
(MGR's Organisation) and MGR ADMK
(MGR's and Anna's DMK) respectively.
in the late 1960s, their actual participation in coalition government
s came only in 1979, when two AIADMK Members of Parliament, Satyavani Muthu and Aravinda Bala Pajanor
, joined the short-lived Charan Singh Ministry, which followed the Morarji Desai
-led Janata Party
government (1977–79). The DMK's Murasoli Maran
joined the V.P. Singh Ministry in 1989. The DMK shared power with the subsequent United Front
governments led by H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Ministry (1998–99), three parties from Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(MDMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi
(PMK) were represented. In the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Ministry, headed by Vajpayee (1999–2004), the DMK, the MDMK and the PMK all had representatives. In fact, it was in this Ministry that Tamil Nadu had the largest representation. At one stage there were 10 Ministers from Tamil Nadu, seven of them from the Dravidian parties. In the Vajpayee Ministry (1998–99), the AIADMK's presence lasted only a few months. The current central government led by Manmohan Singh
includes cabinet members from DMK.
distinction, empowerment of women, ending Brahmin dominance in Tamil Nadu educational institutions and government, ending northern domination of the politics and economy of Tamil Nadu, opposition to Hindi as India's official language, and independence for Dravida Nadu from India. The call for Dravida Nadu in the initial days during the British Raj
meant a "Dravidian state under the British Raj".
Although Annadurai defended his party's demand for Dravida Nadu in his maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha
in 1962 and recorded his protest against a ban on demanding separation, a year later the demand had to be abandoned following the Sino-Indian War
. This paradigm shift is often attributed to the Sixteenth Amendment to the Indian Constitution or Anti-sectionist amendment, as it is usually called. In the 1960s, the formation of Tamil Nadu as a Tamil language state carved out of the erstwhile Madras Presidency fulfilled the goal of an encompassing Dravidian state.
Since then, state autonomy
and social justice through reservation
for the underprivileged in education and employment have been the main political planks of the DMK.
The Dravidian political ideology has evolved through the years and is now varied between parties.
Starting from an initial atheistic inclination with the strict anti-Brahmin outlook of the DK, the DMK moved on to a strong ethnic identity - initially that of "the Dravidian" and later of "the Tamilian" or "the common Tamil man".
In fact it is considered that Dravidian politics developed into an inclusive Tamil nationalism
since it associated the Dravidian community with the non-Sanskrit
ic Tamil language and cultural tradition.
With the rise of AIADMK in 1977, Tamil Nadu witnessed two Chief Ministers (MGR and Jayalalitha) who were not Tamils themselves.
Congress Party, but by the 1930s it was heavily influenced by Leninist socialism
, atheism
and Bertrand Russell
's inspired rationalism.
Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the first to hold that post in the Dravidian parties, C. N. Annadurai, declared that the DMK (and hence its offshoots) are "genuinely communist by principle".
was named. A later example is Kudi Arasu (The Republic in English). DMK had Murasoli (Drum Beat in English) as its party organ, and AIADMK published Namathu Dr MGR (Our Dr. MGR in English). Dinakaran
, a Tamil Daily owned by Marans, was earlier considered as an unofficial organ of DMK until the family feud within the family of Karunanidhi.
first became politicized during the Non-cooperation movement
. With the advent of sound in films, large numbers of theater personnel were attracted, many of whom were already active in politics.
Annadurai was a writer, director, and producer of many films that were used as a means of propagation of Dravidian ideologies.
Sivaji Ganesan
was a member of DK but later moved to DMK as one of its founding members. Nevertheless, he was expelled from the DMK following his comments on the party being a "glamour party", a reaction which is attributed to his frustration over lack of recognition.
M. G. Ramachandran was reputedly the most famous star of any Dravidian party.
Current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi has continued be active both in film script writing and politics until recent times.
Former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu Janaki Ramachandran
and J. Jayalalitha were both film stars who paired with MGR in many of his movies. Other stars within the Dravidian parties include S. S. Rajendran and K. R. Ramaswamy.
Network for its propaganda until the family feud within Karunanidhi's family, which eventually led to the birth of the alternate Tamil Channel Kalaignar TV
.
Similarly, AIADMK earlier owned JJ TV, which was later dissolved. It currently uses Jaya TV
for its propaganda.
movement, which swept the Hindi heartlands
of India, in Tamil Nadu.
The announcement in 1990 by the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh that the Mandal Commission
's recommendation to extend reservation
in employment in the Union government to the Other Backward Classes would be implemented was "in accordance with the resolution to that effect, passed in the State Assembly" is claimed by DMK to be one of its achievements.
Listing the benefits accruing to the State from sharing power at the Centre, the DMK stated that "the presence of the DMK Minister (Murasoli Maran) in the National Front Cabinet and the resolution passed in the (Tamil Nadu) Assembly during the DMK regime (1996-2001) resulted in a Tribunal being appointed to adjudicate the Kaveri River Water Dispute
in the case filed by the Thanjavur farmers in the Supreme Court". The success of the efforts of Prime Minister Vajpayee in persuading Karnataka
to accept the Tribunal's Interim Award ensuring 205 tmc.ft.
of Kaveri river water
to Tamil Nadu has been seen as one of the benefits of the DMK's presence in the BJP-led government.
According to the DMK, the "creation" of 11 Navaratnas and 97 Mini-Ratnas companies in the public sector, (blue-chip companies which invest 30 per cent of their surplus funds in public sector mutual funds) "with administrative and financial autonomy", during the United Front government at the Centre (1996–98) was because of the party's presence in the Cabinet.
Another benefit cited by DMK is the substantial profits the State has received from foreign investments since the start of the liberalisation process. According to a party statement, of the total investment of Rs
.13,150,170 millions that has flowed into the country since liberalisation began, Tamil Nadu has received 1,511,870 millions, which is 11.5 per cent of the total investment in the country.
It is often stated by the DMK and its sympathisers that DMK chief Karunanidhi played a vital role in the then central government declaring Tamil
a classical language
.
The inclusion of DMK in the United Front
government, led by I. K. Gujral, in 1997 came under crisis
with the interim report of Jain Commission, which was appointed to oversee the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
, said that the then DMK government was responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi
's murderers.
In 2007 DMK chief Karunanidi sparked controversy with his remarks on Lord Rama, causing political unrest and resulting in the filing of a First Information Report
against him.
. M. G. Ramachandran
, then AIADMK chief, is said to have donated 110 million Indian Rupees to the LTTE.
It was also reported by the Jain Commission that the DMK regime was aligned with the LTTE between 1989 and 1991.
S. Ramadoss
, party chief of PMK, has recently called for the Central Government of India to help work towards an "early political solution in Sri Lanka
." In 2007 DMK, AIADMK and MDMK expressed their concerns over the arrest of Tamil Malaysians
following a protest.
and Soviet Russia
. On his arrival back home, he declared that his party members would wear black shirts whenever and wherever possible as a symbol of the present down-trodden condition of Dravidians. The design of the DMK flag consists of two colour rectangles, with the top half black and the bottom half red. The black color reflects the dark political, economical and social situation of Dravidians. Red is used to signify "rising sunlight" that removes the darkness. The red rises from the bottom and is expected to slowly remove all the darkness. Years later, when DMK contested elections, it would take the "rising sun" as the party symbol. AIADMK uses the black and red combination with a picture of Annadurai in white in the middle and hence it is sometimes characterised as being a tricoloured flag: black and red with white in the middle. The MDMK flag consists of two red stripes with a black stripe in the center.
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement
Self-Respect Movement
The Self-Respect Movement was founded in 1925 by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in Tamil Nadu, India. The movement has the aim of achieving a society where backward castes have equal human rights, and encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in the context of a caste based society that...
of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
.
The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India,
where most of the Northern Indian
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
, Eastern Indian
East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Orissa. The states of Orissa and West Bengal share some cultural and linguistic characteristics with Bangladesh and with the state of Assam. Together with Bangladesh, West Bengal formed the...
and Western Indian
West India
West India or the Western region of India consists of the states of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It is highly industrialized, with a large urban population. Most of Western India was part of the Maratha Empire before...
languages are classified as Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
.
Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India on the politics and economy of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thus Dravidian politics incorporates elements of Tamil Nationalism
Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism in India is an aspiration by some Tamils to establish, at minimum, self determination or at maximum secession from India to establish an Independent Tamil State of which would consist of today's Tamil nadu, Puducherry and Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka...
and has found support only in Tamil Nadu.
Most Dravidian parties are offshoots of Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
(DK);. There are also a few other parties in Tamil Nadu that did not arise from DK directly. Nevertheless, both the former and the latter are considered as Dravidian parties because of the similarities of their ideals and goals.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
(DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
(AIADMK) have been the major players among the Dravidian parties since the mid-1960s.
Since the 1967 legislative assembly
Tamil Nadu state assembly election, 1967
The fourth legislative assembly election of Madras State was held in February 1967. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led coalition under the leadership of C.N. Annadurai won the election defeating the Indian National Congress . Anti-Hindi agitations, the rising prices of essential commodities and a...
elections, only the DMK and the AIADMK have formed governments in Tamil Nadu. These two parties are political rivals.
Barring political alliances
Electoral alliance
An electoral alliance may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc. It is an association of political parties or individuals which exists solely to stand in elections...
with the DMK or AIADMK, since the 1990s no other political party has won more than a few seats in the Indian parliament or state legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu. Since 1996, members of the DMK and AIADMK have held portfolios in the cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
of the central Indian government. Other major Dravidian party is Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu formed in 1994 by Mr. V. Gopalswamy , a member of Rajyasabha and a party activitist of DMK. Mr. V. Gopalsamy grew in the party from his student days. He actively participated in the party agitations and...
.
Political media
Political media
Political media are communication vehicles owned, ruled, managed, or otherwise influenced by political entities, meant to propagate views of the related entity. A similar term, normative media, emphasizes technical and social characteristics of the media itself in shaping decisions...
is pervasive in Dravidian politics, with five of the seven chief ministers from these parties being directly involved in Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
, either as script writers or actors. Recently television channels owned by these parties have been used for political propaganda purposes.
Background
Most of the Indian population are classified as Aryans or Dravidians. Although genetic researchGenetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
has put in doubt the racial aspect of this classification, the classification is valid on the basis of language families. Most northern Indian languages are classified as Aryan
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
, whereas most southern Indian languages are Dravidian languages
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
. Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, a classical language
Classical language
A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich...
of the Aryan group, was considered to be a sacred language, whereas in the former British Indian state of Madras Presidency
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, it was a commonly held opinion in that the Dravidian tongues were inferior. The linguistic divide was even more pronounced given the political dominance of Brahmins in South India.
The Brahmins, who occupied the higher strata in the Indian caste system, accounted for 3% of the population in Madras Presidency, but held 60 to 79% of the positions in major government departments in the early 20th century. It was observed by some leaders from the south that Brahmins were Aryans, and hence non-natives, who had taken positions in the government that should rightfully be filled by people indigenous to the area.
The antipathy towards Sanskrit compounded with the animosity against the Brahimins paved the way for the rise of Dravidian politics in Madras Presidency.
Early Dravidian politics
Iyothee Thass
Iyothee Thass or Pandit C. Ayodhya Dasa was a practitioner of Siddha medicine who is regarded as a pioneer of the Dravidian Movement.- Early life :...
in the late 19th century. His efforts brought together the lower caste Dravidians with the establishment of the Dravida Mahajana Sabha organisation in 1891. A major leap in Dravidian politics was the formation of the Madras United League by non-Brahmin intellectuals, who considered the dominance of Brahmins in civil administration a threat to the non-Brahmin majority.
The League was initially started as a workgroup that helped non-Brahmin students in Madras with accommodation. It later grew into a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
under the efforts of leaders like Sir Pitti Theagaroya Chetty and Dr. T. M. Nair. The party was named South Indian Liberal Federation (S. I. L. F.) - popularly known as the Justice party
Justice Party (India)
The Justice Party , officially known as South Indian Liberal Federation, was a political party in the Madras Presidency of British India. The party was established in 1917 by T. M. Nair and Theagaroya Chetty as a result of a series of non-Brahmin conferences and meetings in the presidency...
.
Justice Party era
A limited form of self governance was introduced in British India after World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. While the Justice Party saw this as an opportunity to displace Brahmin dominance, the British government considered it favourable, since the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
spearheading the Indian independence movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
was dominated by Brahmins. The Justice party emerged as a winner in the 1920 general elections and brought about the reforms it had campaigned for, including establishing communal reservation
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
through affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
for the first time in the country, and brought temples
Hindu temple
A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...
under state control. Soon after their electoral success the animosity between Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
and Telugu
Telugu people
The Telugu people or Telugu Prajalu are an ethnic group of India. They are the native speakers of the Telugu language, the most commonly spoken language in India after Hindi and Bengali...
members deepened, thus weakening the party. Nevertheless, the Justice Party electorally dominated the presidency for 17 years until it was defeated by the Indian National Congress party in 1937. Although out of power, the Justice Party was involved in demonstrations across the Province against the introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject of study in schools by a Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
-led government, which led to the detainment of scores of Tamil scholars, academics and Justice Party leaders. This and other struggles for social justice helped create the social base of what emerged as the Dravidian Movement.
Dravidar Kazhagam
The next few years saw a decline in the Justice Party's popularity. In 1938, the by then badly weakened party sought the leadership of Periyar E. V. RamasamyPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkata Ramasamy , affectionately called by his followers as Periyar , Thanthai Periyar or E. V...
, a leader of the Dravidian Movement, who became its president. In 1944, Periyar changed the name of the party to Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
(Dravidian organisation in English). This move was opposed by some members of the Party who continued contesting elections as the Justice Party under the leadership of P. T. Rajan
P. T. Rajan
Sir Ponnambala Thiaga Rajan was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency from April 4, 1936 to August 24, 1936. He was also the last President of the Justice Party....
until 1957. Periyar as the president of Dravidiar Kazhagam considered that contesting in elections would lead to compromises in principles and withdrew Dravida Kazhagam from parliamentary politics.
Birth of DMK
In 1947, when India attained independence, Periyar called for members of the Dravidar Kazhagam to boycott the celebrations. According to him, the Indian National Congress was dominated by Brahmins. He predicted that an independent India would bring South Indians, especially Tamils, under the dominance of Brahmins and North Indians. In other words, according to Periyar, independence would lead to the replacement of British dominance with Brahmin and North Indian dominance. He felt an independent nation called Dravida Nadu for the South Indians would be the best solution. Periyar declared 15 August 1947, the day of Indian independence, as a day of mourning. This move was opposed by other leaders within the party, including C. N. Annadurai
C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
. Annadurai viewed independence as an achievement for all of India rather than solely of the Aryan North.
On July 9, 1948 Periyar married woman 40 years his junior, leading to a split in the party.
The leaders of the splitting faction eventually formed a new party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
or DMK (Progressive Dravidian Organisation in English), in 1949.
Independent Dravida Nadu
Although initially both DK and DMK sought an independent Dravida Nadu, DK later moved on to work on bringing social changes whereas DMK leaders such as C. N. AnnaduraiC. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
and E. V. K. Sampath
E. V. K. Sampath
Erode Venkatta Naicker Krishnasamy Sampath , usually referred to as E. V. K. Sampath was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was considered by some as his political heir. He later split from Periyar's Dravidar...
endeavoured to achieve their goals through parliamentary election processes.
Sampath, who had earlier forfeited his seniority with Periyar's party to join DMK, saw the call for an independent Dravida Nadu was turning out to be an unrealistic goal.
Sampath expressed concerns over using film stars to increase the popularity of the party. His views led him to cross swords with the major leaders of the party and eventually caused the first split in DMK. Sampath left DMK to begin his own party called the Tamil National Party
Tamil National Party
Tamil National Party was a short-lived political party formed in 1962 in Tamil Nadu, India. The party finds its roots with the split in Dravidar Kazhagam after which Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was formed. E. V. K. Sampath, a founding member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, left the party following...
.
Although leaders like Annadurai were firm in their separatist stance, the reorganisation of states in India
States Reorganisation Act
The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries and governance of India's states and territories. The act reorganised the boundaries of India's states along linguistic lines, and amended the Indian Constitution to replace the three types of states, known as Parts A, B,...
on a linguistic basis removed Kannada, Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
and Malayalam speaking regions from Madras Presidency, leaving behind a predominantly Tamil Madras State
Madras State
Madras State was the name by which the Indian districts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Northern Kerala, Bellary and Dakshina Kannada were collectively known as from 1950 to 1953....
. Giving in to political realities, Annadurai and his DMK changed their call for an independent Dravida Nadu for Dravidians to an independent Tamil Nadu for Tamils. Annadurai saw that remaining in the Indian Union meant accepting linguistic domination and economic backwardness. However, the Sino-Indian war
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...
brought about changes in the Indian constitution. The Sixteenth Amendment (also known as the Anti-Secessionist Amendment) banned any party with sectarian principles from contesting elections. Consequently DMK preferred to keep the issue of Dravida Nadu on the backburner.
From then on DMK's main focus targeted the dominance of North Indians in the Union Government of India.
DMK government
After dropping the demand for an independent Dravida Nadu, DMK changed its focus to the problems arising out of the disparity between North and South India. The DMK considered that the south was neglected by delays in sanctioning development projects and allotment of funds. Thus the Congress-led Central government became its major target for calls for reform. Immediately after Indian independence the Congress Party was popular throughout India and thus formed the government in many states including Madras Presidency. Even so, the Congress Party failed to obtain an absolute majority in the presidency in the state's first election. By the 1960s the popularity of the Congress party was in a steady decline.DMK leaders also perceived that the attempts to declare Hindi as the sole national language of India was an attempt impose an Aryan language unwilling people in the South. According to the terms of the Indian constitution dated January 26, 1965, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as an official language of India would come to an end and Hindi would become the sole official language. However, the Madras Anti-Hindi agitation
Anti-Hindi agitations
The Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu are a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu during both pre- and post-Independence periods...
in 1965 compelled the Central Government in India change its language policy, allowing English to continue as an official language.
Although DMK was not directly involved in the violence that marred the agitation, the protest itself catapulted DMK to political power in the State in the 1967 legislative elections.
The electoral victory in 1967 led to an electoral fusion
Electoral fusion
Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate...
among the non-Congress parties to avoid a split in the Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
votes. Rajagopalachari, a former senior leader of the Congress Party, had by then left the Congress and launched the right-wing Swatantra Party
Swatantra Party
The Swatantra Party was a classical liberal political party in India founded by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and N. G. Ranga in August 1959. The party opposed the Nehruvian socialist outlook of the Congress Party by advocating free enterprise and free trade, and opposing the licence-permit Raj...
. He played a vital role in bringing about the electoral fusion amongst the opposition parties to align against the Congress.
MGR and the split from DMK
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
in Tamil cinema and a well known propagator of Dravidian ideologies in his movies since 1953. In the 1970s as the then treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of DMK, he played a vital part in popularising the party, bringing many of his fans as supporters.
A political feud between MGR and the party's president M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...
had been ongoing since the death of Annadurai in 1969. It arose from Karunanidhi calling himself the "Mujib
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
of Tamil Nadu". Soon after the electoral victory of DMK in 1971, some of senior members expressed concern that MGR's popularity was growing strong within the party cadres.
Karunanidhi made several attempts to weaken MGR's position within the party. MGR retaliated with corruption charges and a call for a boycott of the party's General Council.
DMK's General Council suspended MGR from the party stating that he had involved himself in "anti party activities". Although MGR had lost support from top ranking leaders within the DMK, the strong public reaction following his suspension demonstrated his popular support within the party's volunteers. Inspired by this support from the party's lower cadres and his fans, MGR launched his own party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
, AIADMK (named after Annadurai: Anna was his nickname).
AIADMK government
MGR presented his new party to Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
as the regional equivalent of her Congress (I) Party. Indira Gandhi was the head of her party, which she split from the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
with the support of lower cadres and opposition from senior party leaders.
Thus AIADMK could show itself as an equally strong alternative to that of DMK with which Congress (I) could ally. From then on, the Congress (I) Party fought elections in the State in alliance with one of the two parties. Ever since then the Dravidian parties have helped the Congress (I) sustain itself in the State, but with limited ambitions.
In 1977, the DMK government, led by Karunanidhi, was dismissed under corruption charges by the Central government of India, led by Congress (I), which had by then allied with AIADMK.
Further offshoots of DMK
Sivaji GanesanSivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
, a veteran actor of Tamil Cinema
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
, was a founding member of DMK party. The actor himself was nick-named Shivaji by Periyar E. V. Ramasami after his role portraying the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...
king. Nevertheless, differences between the party leadership and the actor widened since he perceived that M. G. Ramachandran, his acting contemporary, was given more prominence than himself. Furthermore, he started distancing himself from the party's anti-religious atheistic stance to satisfy his religious fans. Hence when E. V. K. Sampath launched his own splinter from DMK (in the name of Tamil National Party), Sivaji left DMK and joined Sampath. However, Tamil National Party itself was short-lived and was merged into Congress. Sivaji, although a member of Congress party, maintained distance from the party activities and concentrated more on his film career. After the death of M. G. Ramachandran in 1987, Sivaji re-launched his political career with his own party Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani (Tamil Nadu Development Front in English). The party lost every single seat it contested for in the 1989 elections. Sivaji dissolved the party, asked his party cadres to join the Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
and openly regretted his decision to have ever launched his own party.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Progressive Dravidian Renaissance Organisation in English) or MDMK is yet another offshoot of the DMK. It was formed in May 1994, after V. Gopalswamy
V. Gopalswamy
Vai. Gopalsamy , popularly known as Vaiko is a prominent politician in Tamil Nadu, in south India. He was born in Kallingappatti, Tirunelveli district, Madras Presidency, in 1944 to a Telugu speaking Kamma Naidu family who descended from the Nayaks of Gandikota...
(popularly known as Vaiko), a senior leader and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from DMK, was expelled from the party. Barring, perhaps, their more radical support for an independent Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam , is the name given by certain Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora to the independent state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam has no official status or recognition by any other state or authority...
in the Sri Lankan crisis
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
,
the MDMK do not have major ideological differences with the other Dravidian parties. MDMK shares its goals with the DMK and AIADMK in respect to State autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
, constitutional protection for the reservation
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
formula and making Tamil an official language of the Indian Union. In 2004, Tamil film director and actor T. Rajendar
T. Rajendar
Vijaya Thesingu Rajendar is a Tamil film actor and director as well as a film score composer, screenwriter, singer, comedian, dancer and playback singer. He is also a politician in Tamil Nadu, India....
who was earlier expelled from DMK launched the All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu launched by Tamil film maker T. Rajendar in April 2004. The party was formed as a result of T. Rajendar's expulsion from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.This party haven't take part in the 2011 polls....
(All India Principled Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in English).
Offshoots of AIADMK
Soon after MGR's death in 1987, his wife Janaki RamachandranJanaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran , popularly known as V.N. Janaki , was an Indian Tamil actress and politician. She was born to Rajagopal Iyer and Narayani Amma in the town of Vaikom in Kerala State. She had a brother P. Narayanan who was an educationalist...
took over as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
This appointment was opposed by former actress and politician J. Jayalalithaa
J. Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa Jayaram ; born 24 February 1948) commonly referred to as J. Jayalalitha, is the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She is the incumbent general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian party. She is called Amma and Puratchi Thalaivi by her...
. The resistance from Jayalalithaa eventually led to the dismissal of the AIADMK government, the shortest lived government in the history of Tamil Nadu, by the Central Government of India then led by Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
. The antagonism built up and the AIADMK split into two fragments.
The Election Commission of India
Election Commission of India
The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...
refused to accept either of them as the successor of the original party and separate electoral symbols were allocated.
The faction led by MGR's widow chose to use two doves, with a large dove holding leafy branch in its beak, as if feeding the smaller dove. Jayalalithaa's faction was represented by a crowing cock.
Although both factions lost the 1989 state elections, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK won 27 seats when compared to just one won by Janaki's. Following the election defeat, Janaki retired from active politics and the two party factions rejoined into one party.
Other breakaways in AIADMK were witnessed in 1990s, when R. M. Veerappan
R. M. Veerappan
R. M. Veerappan is an Indian politician, an early Dravidian Leader, and a movie producer from the state of Tamil Nadu. He is the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam party. and former minister in the Tamil Nadu state of India. He has been Minister for 5 terms of varying tenure.He is referred to...
and S. Tirunavukkarasu, due to personal differences with Jayalalithaa, formed MGR Kazhagam
MGR Kazhagam
MGR Kazhagam , a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The president of MGR Kazhagam is RM Veerappan, a former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam minister....
(MGR's Organisation) and MGR ADMK
MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
M.G.R. Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, splinter-group of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. MGR ADMK was part of National Democratic Alliance and took part in the Central government of Atal Behari Vajpayee. The party was led by S...
(MGR's and Anna's DMK) respectively.
Dravidian parties in central government
Although the DMK and the AIADMK started playing a minimal role in the decision-making process in the Central governmentGovernment of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in the late 1960s, their actual participation in coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
s came only in 1979, when two AIADMK Members of Parliament, Satyavani Muthu and Aravinda Bala Pajanor
Aravinda Bala Pajanor
Aravinda Bala Pajanor, last name also written as Pazhanoor, was a member of the 5th and 6th Lok Sabha of India, and Union Cabinet Minister in the Government of India. He, along with Satyavani Muthu became the first union cabinet minister from a Dravidian party in the first ever coalition ministry...
, joined the short-lived Charan Singh Ministry, which followed the Morarji Desai
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...
-led Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
government (1977–79). The DMK's Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran
Murasoli Maran was a prominent Tamil politician in India, and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party which is headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 36 years, he was made a Union Minister in three separate central governments, in...
joined the V.P. Singh Ministry in 1989. The DMK shared power with the subsequent United Front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
governments led by H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
Ministry (1998–99), three parties from Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu formed in 1994 by Mr. V. Gopalswamy , a member of Rajyasabha and a party activitist of DMK. Mr. V. Gopalsamy grew in the party from his student days. He actively participated in the party agitations and...
(MDMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi
Pattali Makkal Katchi
Paattali Makkal Katchi is a Tamil political party.-History:PMK was founded by Dr. S. Ramdoss and the state president is G. K. Mani. Ramdoss had earlier worked with the Vanniyar Sangham founded by him in 1980. PMK is based amongst the Most Backward Class Vanniyakula Kshatriyas community...
(PMK) were represented. In the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Ministry, headed by Vajpayee (1999–2004), the DMK, the MDMK and the PMK all had representatives. In fact, it was in this Ministry that Tamil Nadu had the largest representation. At one stage there were 10 Ministers from Tamil Nadu, seven of them from the Dravidian parties. In the Vajpayee Ministry (1998–99), the AIADMK's presence lasted only a few months. The current central government led by Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
includes cabinet members from DMK.
Dravidianism and Tamilism
The principal ideals and goals of Dravidian parties at their incipience, which were borrowed from Dravidar Kazhagam, were social reforms such as ending religious beliefs, ending casteCaste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
distinction, empowerment of women, ending Brahmin dominance in Tamil Nadu educational institutions and government, ending northern domination of the politics and economy of Tamil Nadu, opposition to Hindi as India's official language, and independence for Dravida Nadu from India. The call for Dravida Nadu in the initial days during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
meant a "Dravidian state under the British Raj".
Although Annadurai defended his party's demand for Dravida Nadu in his maiden speech in the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
in 1962 and recorded his protest against a ban on demanding separation, a year later the demand had to be abandoned following the Sino-Indian War
Sino-Indian War
The Sino-Indian War , also known as the Sino-Indian Border Conflict , was a war between China and India that occurred in 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main pretext for war, but other issues played a role. There had been a series of violent border incidents after the 1959 Tibetan...
. This paradigm shift is often attributed to the Sixteenth Amendment to the Indian Constitution or Anti-sectionist amendment, as it is usually called. In the 1960s, the formation of Tamil Nadu as a Tamil language state carved out of the erstwhile Madras Presidency fulfilled the goal of an encompassing Dravidian state.
Since then, state autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
and social justice through reservation
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
for the underprivileged in education and employment have been the main political planks of the DMK.
The Dravidian political ideology has evolved through the years and is now varied between parties.
Starting from an initial atheistic inclination with the strict anti-Brahmin outlook of the DK, the DMK moved on to a strong ethnic identity - initially that of "the Dravidian" and later of "the Tamilian" or "the common Tamil man".
In fact it is considered that Dravidian politics developed into an inclusive Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism in India is an aspiration by some Tamils to establish, at minimum, self determination or at maximum secession from India to establish an Independent Tamil State of which would consist of today's Tamil nadu, Puducherry and Tamil Eelam of Sri Lanka...
since it associated the Dravidian community with the non-Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
ic Tamil language and cultural tradition.
With the rise of AIADMK in 1977, Tamil Nadu witnessed two Chief Ministers (MGR and Jayalalitha) who were not Tamils themselves.
Leftist inclination
The Self-respect movement, which is at the root of Dravidian politics, was initially forged in the mid-1920s in emulation and in critique of the GandhianMahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
Congress Party, but by the 1930s it was heavily influenced by Leninist socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
's inspired rationalism.
Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the first to hold that post in the Dravidian parties, C. N. Annadurai, declared that the DMK (and hence its offshoots) are "genuinely communist by principle".
Political use of media
Mass media have been widely used by Dravidian politicians from the early days of the parties. Initially propaganda was spread through newspapers owned by benefactors or by the organisations themselves and through public gatherings. One early example of media use was the magazine Justice, which carried strong non-Brahmin viewpoints, after which the Indian Justice PartyIndian Justice Party
Indian Justice Party is a political party of India that was established by Dr. Udit Raj.-External links:* *...
was named. A later example is Kudi Arasu (The Republic in English). DMK had Murasoli (Drum Beat in English) as its party organ, and AIADMK published Namathu Dr MGR (Our Dr. MGR in English). Dinakaran
Dinakaran
Dinakaran is a Tamil daily newspaper distributed in India. , Dinakaran is the largest Tamil daily newspaper in terms of net paid circulation, which was 1,235,220...
, a Tamil Daily owned by Marans, was earlier considered as an unofficial organ of DMK until the family feud within the family of Karunanidhi.
Tamil cinema and politics
Tamil cinemaTamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
first became politicized during the Non-cooperation movement
Non-cooperation movement
The non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule which lasted for years. This movement, which lasted from September 1920 to February 1922 and was led by Mohandas Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist...
. With the advent of sound in films, large numbers of theater personnel were attracted, many of whom were already active in politics.
Annadurai was a writer, director, and producer of many films that were used as a means of propagation of Dravidian ideologies.
Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
was a member of DK but later moved to DMK as one of its founding members. Nevertheless, he was expelled from the DMK following his comments on the party being a "glamour party", a reaction which is attributed to his frustration over lack of recognition.
M. G. Ramachandran was reputedly the most famous star of any Dravidian party.
Current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi has continued be active both in film script writing and politics until recent times.
Former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran , popularly known as V.N. Janaki , was an Indian Tamil actress and politician. She was born to Rajagopal Iyer and Narayani Amma in the town of Vaikom in Kerala State. She had a brother P. Narayanan who was an educationalist...
and J. Jayalalitha were both film stars who paired with MGR in many of his movies. Other stars within the Dravidian parties include S. S. Rajendran and K. R. Ramaswamy.
Television
DMK initially used Sun TVSun TV (India)
Sun TV is a regional Indian cable television station. It is the flagship channel of the Chennai-based Sun Network. It was founded and currently owned by Kalanidhi Maran. It was the first fully privately owned television channel in India when it emerged in 1992...
Network for its propaganda until the family feud within Karunanidhi's family, which eventually led to the birth of the alternate Tamil Channel Kalaignar TV
Kalaignar TV
Kalaignar TV is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India.-History:After disputes between Kalanithi Maran and M. K. Azhagiri, Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi launched this channel on September 15 2007...
.
Similarly, AIADMK earlier owned JJ TV, which was later dissolved. It currently uses Jaya TV
Jaya TV
Jaya TV is one of the major Tamil language satellite television channels based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV is one of the early Tamil channels to entertain the Tamil audiences spread across Globe....
for its propaganda.
Regional
One of the major impacts of the Dravidian parties is said to be the lack of or limited support to the HindutvaHindutva
Hindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism. Members of the movement are called Hindutvavādis.In India, an umbrella organization called the Sangh Parivar champions the concept of Hindutva...
movement, which swept the Hindi heartlands
Hindi belt
The Hindi Belt or Hindi Heartland is a loosely defined linguistic region in North and Central India where Hindi languages are widely spoken, either as primary or secondary languages....
of India, in Tamil Nadu.
The announcement in 1990 by the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh that the Mandal Commission
Mandal commission
The Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat...
's recommendation to extend reservation
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
in employment in the Union government to the Other Backward Classes would be implemented was "in accordance with the resolution to that effect, passed in the State Assembly" is claimed by DMK to be one of its achievements.
Listing the benefits accruing to the State from sharing power at the Centre, the DMK stated that "the presence of the DMK Minister (Murasoli Maran) in the National Front Cabinet and the resolution passed in the (Tamil Nadu) Assembly during the DMK regime (1996-2001) resulted in a Tribunal being appointed to adjudicate the Kaveri River Water Dispute
Kaveri River Water Dispute
The sharing of waters of the river Kaveri had been the bone of contention of a serious conflict between the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...
in the case filed by the Thanjavur farmers in the Supreme Court". The success of the efforts of Prime Minister Vajpayee in persuading Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
to accept the Tribunal's Interim Award ensuring 205 tmc.ft.
Tmcft
Tmcft, , , , is the abbreviation for one thousand million cubic feet , commonly used in reference to volume of water in a reservoiror river flow.-Conversion:1 tmcft. is equivalent to:...
of Kaveri river water
Kaveri River
The Kaveri , also spelled Cauvery in English, is a large Indian river. The origin of the river is traditionally placed at Talakaveri, Kodagu in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, flows generally south and east through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and across the southern Deccan plateau through the...
to Tamil Nadu has been seen as one of the benefits of the DMK's presence in the BJP-led government.
According to the DMK, the "creation" of 11 Navaratnas and 97 Mini-Ratnas companies in the public sector, (blue-chip companies which invest 30 per cent of their surplus funds in public sector mutual funds) "with administrative and financial autonomy", during the United Front government at the Centre (1996–98) was because of the party's presence in the Cabinet.
Another benefit cited by DMK is the substantial profits the State has received from foreign investments since the start of the liberalisation process. According to a party statement, of the total investment of Rs
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
.13,150,170 millions that has flowed into the country since liberalisation began, Tamil Nadu has received 1,511,870 millions, which is 11.5 per cent of the total investment in the country.
It is often stated by the DMK and its sympathisers that DMK chief Karunanidhi played a vital role in the then central government declaring Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
a classical language
Classical language
A classical language is a language with a literature that is classical. According to UC Berkeley linguist George L. Hart, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich...
.
National
Since 1996, either DMK or AIADMK has been part of the central governments of India.The inclusion of DMK in the United Front
United front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
government, led by I. K. Gujral, in 1997 came under crisis
with the interim report of Jain Commission, which was appointed to oversee the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
, said that the then DMK government was responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
's murderers.
In 2007 DMK chief Karunanidi sparked controversy with his remarks on Lord Rama, causing political unrest and resulting in the filing of a First Information Report
First Information Report
A First Information Report or FIR is a written document prepared by the police in India, Pakistan and Japan when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First...
against him.
International
The Dravidian parties have played a pivotal role in the ongoing Sri Lankan civil warSri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
. M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials , was an Indian film actor, director, producer and politician....
, then AIADMK chief, is said to have donated 110 million Indian Rupees to the LTTE.
It was also reported by the Jain Commission that the DMK regime was aligned with the LTTE between 1989 and 1991.
S. Ramadoss
S. Ramadoss
Dr. S. Ramadoss is the founder and president of the Pattali Makkal Katchi Indian political party. Dr Ramadass had earlier worked intensively with the Vanniyar Sangham ....
, party chief of PMK, has recently called for the Central Government of India to help work towards an "early political solution in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
." In 2007 DMK, AIADMK and MDMK expressed their concerns over the arrest of Tamil Malaysians
Tamil Malaysians
Tamil Malaysian or Malaysian Tamil refer to the Malaysians of Tamil ethnic origin from India and Sri Lanka in Malaysia. They make up over 70% of the Indian Malaysian population group in Malaysia...
following a protest.
Flags
Each Dravidian party is represented by its own flag. Black and Red are the usual colours used, a feature which traces its origin to Periyar's visit to Axis countriesAxis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
and Soviet Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. On his arrival back home, he declared that his party members would wear black shirts whenever and wherever possible as a symbol of the present down-trodden condition of Dravidians. The design of the DMK flag consists of two colour rectangles, with the top half black and the bottom half red. The black color reflects the dark political, economical and social situation of Dravidians. Red is used to signify "rising sunlight" that removes the darkness. The red rises from the bottom and is expected to slowly remove all the darkness. Years later, when DMK contested elections, it would take the "rising sun" as the party symbol. AIADMK uses the black and red combination with a picture of Annadurai in white in the middle and hence it is sometimes characterised as being a tricoloured flag: black and red with white in the middle. The MDMK flag consists of two red stripes with a black stripe in the center.
See also
- Dravidar KazhagamDravidar KazhagamDravidar Kazhagam or Dravida Kazhagam was the first fully Dravidian party in India. It was a radical party formed by E. V. Ramaswamy, also called Thanthai Periyar of erstwhile Madras Presidency...
- Dravida Munnetra KazhagamDravida Munnetra KazhagamDravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
- All India Anna Dravida Munnetra KazhagamAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra KazhagamAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
- Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra KazhagamMarumalarchi Dravida Munnetra KazhagamMarumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu formed in 1994 by Mr. V. Gopalswamy , a member of Rajyasabha and a party activitist of DMK. Mr. V. Gopalsamy grew in the party from his student days. He actively participated in the party agitations and...
- Sri Lankan Tamil nationalismSri Lankan Tamil nationalismSri Lankan Tamil nationalism is the conviction of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, a minority ethnic group in the South Asian island country of Sri Lanka , that they have the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community. This idea has not always existed...