How Dravidian parties changed the course of Tamil Nadu’s progress

Annadurai also favoured a strong emphasis on agriculture, as the majority of the population depended on it. “When we develop industrial potential and create alternative employment for our people, we can progressively reduce the number dependent on agriculture and then move towards mechanisation. This does not mean that I am opposed to mechanisation or mass production. I am fully conscious of the vast manpower in our country, and therefore, we should progress while keeping in mind the basic fact that, for many years to come, projects in our country should remain labour-oriented,” he reiterated.

C.N. Annadurai with Kamaraj.
| Photo Credit:
THE HINDU ARCHIVES

His untimely death left one wondering what the course of Tamil Nadu’s history might have been had he lived long enough to give concrete shape to his ideas. His successor, M. Karunanidhi, sought to do precisely that. Today, Tamil Nadu is a highly industrialised State, achieving all-round growth across sectors.

Karunanidhi nationalised transport in Tamil Nadu and took the wind out of the Communists’ sails by implementing schemes long advocated by them. Being in power offered both the DMK and the AIADMK significant advantages, which the parties used to entrench themselves deeply in State politics.

Jeyarajan, Executive Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Commission, notes in an article in Frontline that after becoming Chief Minister in 1969, Karunanidhi made conscious efforts to break into the strongholds of the CPI in the composite Thanjavur district to establish a foothold for his party among small-scale farmers (historically called peasants) and agricultural labourers.

He writes that the laws enacted by the DMK government empowered tenants and agricultural labourers in Tamil Nadu in important ways and consolidated political power among the lower castes. One of the most significant measures was the Tenancy Land Record Act of 1969.

“There was an amendment to the Act in 1972, which authorised the record officer to conduct inquiries suo motu. The number of revenue courts was increased from two to five. The 1972 legislation wrote off all rent arrears due until 30 June 1971. In 1973, the DMK government introduced a law granting tenants the right to purchase all or part of the land, not exceeding five standard acres,” he explains.

Jeyarajan also notes that the Land Reforms Act, amended in 1970, reduced the land ceiling from 30 standard acres to 15. These reforms continued even after the AIADMK, led by M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), came to power. Amendments to the Tenancy Act in 1979 further reduced rents to 25% and protected tenants against eviction even in cases of rent default during natural calamities.

The late Communist leader Manani Kandasamy, commenting on Karunanidhi’s land reforms in the Assembly, famously remarked that Karunanidhi had achieved “with a drop of ink” what the Communists could not accomplish through bloody protests. This is not to suggest that Communist regimes in Kerala and West Bengal failed to implement land reforms. However, in Tamil Nadu, both the DMK and its offshoot, the AIADMK, introduced policy after policy that empowered generations, despite large-scale corruption and elections marked by enormous political spending.

An October 2000 file picture of M. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai.
| Photo Credit:
K. Pichumani

At the same time, these parties have also created a new crop of billionaires who dominate State politics, leaving little room for cadres who seek to rise through sustained grassroots work.

Caste faultlines

Although the Dravidian Movement and the subsequent capture of power by the DMK and the AIADMK brought an end to the dominance of Brahminism in Tamil Nadu politics, demographic compulsions enabled the rise and consolidation of intermediate castes within Dravidian parties. Dalits, despite constituting nearly 21% of the population, have largely been excluded from positions of real power and are often confined to minor and largely symbolic roles within party structures and ministerial appointments, with only a few notable exceptions. The Dravidian parties have also frequently failed to take a firm stand in instances of violence and atrocities against Dalits.

M.G. Ramachandran greets the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, on his return from foreign tour, at Meenambakkam airport on July 21, 1970.
PHOTO: THE HINDU ARCHIVES/ S.KOTHANDARAMAN
| Photo Credit:
THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Maamannan (2023), a film starring Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin in the lead role, poignantly captures the treatment meted out to Dalits in a political landscape dominated by intermediate castes. At the same time, the film attempts to convey the DMK leadership’s stated concern for Dalits, while portraying its political helplessness in confronting entrenched caste hierarchies on many occasions.

If the sweeping reforms of the DMK, aimed at addressing age-old social issues, kept the Congress out of power, the emergence of MGR, who broke away from the DMK to form the AIADMK, further narrowed the Congress’s political space in Tamil Nadu. MGR’s Nutritious Meal Scheme drew more students to schools and significantly reduced dropout rates. Jayalalithaa, who assumed leadership of the AIADMK after MGR, despite her right-wing tendencies, remained firm in her commitment to social justice. On the issue of reservation, she went a step further by increasing it to 69%.

MGR’s governance

Writing in the Economic and Political Weekly, N. Ram, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, observes that the very existence of two mass-based and vigorously active political organisations — the DMK and the AIADMK — highlights a distinctive feature of Tamil Nadu’s political landscape.

“Working apparently at cross-purposes and staking rival claims to the legacy of the Dravidar Iyakkam, the two nevertheless together defy the authoritarian logic inherent in the condemnation or dismissal of ‘regional forces’ and in the ‘two-party model’ so lightly and arrogantly advocated for India,” he wrote in an article published in February 1979.

The AIADMK has continued to serve as a counterweight to the DMK, preventing the emergence of a national party, particularly the BJP, which might otherwise have replaced the Congress in Tamil Nadu, a party that has been out of power in the State for nearly six decades.

Yet, Mr. Ram argues that the explanations most often advanced in academic and journalistic accounts of the rapid rise and electoral success of MGR suffer from a dismissive approach.

Even scholars sympathetic to and admiring of the Dravidian Movement did not look kindly upon MGR and his uninterrupted 13-year rule. M.S.S. Pandian, in his book Image Trap, argues that many welfare schemes of smaller magnitude were essentially calculated political investments by the MGR regime, with minimal structural impact on the economy.

“They were substantially financed by the poor themselves through tax revenues and had very little effect in redistributing income and wealth from the rich to the poor. In short, MGR’s regime enjoyed massive support from the poor but served the interests of the rich,” he writes.

Nevertheless, MGR’s contributions to Tamil Nadu merit re-evaluation. If the State was able to capitalise on the Information Technology revolution, some credit must go to MGR, who paved the way for private engineering colleges. However, their unchecked proliferation led to excess capacity and declining educational quality — producing what have been termed “cyber coolies” — and the primary responsibility lies with the government, which failed to enforce standards, rather than with college managements, for whom education became merely a business. This critique applies across higher education, where commercialisation has consistently overridden academic priorities.

Private engineering colleges have also undermined the broader educational development of the State. The excessive emphasis on engineering and other professional courses has taken a heavy toll on the humanities and pure sciences. There are few universities or colleges that can match the quality of Central institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, or the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad. Even Tamil University in Thanjavur is a pale shadow of its former self, and the Madras University is not able to reprint its Lexicon in a proper manner.

Neither politicians nor bureaucrats appear to appreciate the importance of the humanities and pure sciences, particularly in producing good teachers who can lay strong foundations for professional education. Political appointments of vice-chancellors have hollowed out once-great institutions such as the University of Madras and Bharathidasan University. Both the DMK and the AIADMK share responsibility for this decay. While the DMK now blames the BJP for capturing institutions, it initiated the practice long ago by appointing its own loyalists as vice-chancellors. Faculty appointments in government and government-aided colleges often come at an exorbitant cost to aspiring candidates.

Overall, education in Tamil Nadu has been commercialised almost beyond redemption. Despite attempts to reform the school system, an increasing number of parents prefer private schools following CBSE, ICSE, or other syllabi, primarily to prepare their children for professional courses.

Reel-politik

The excessive reliance on film personalities, dating back to the era of MGR, has fundamentally altered the trajectory of the Dravidian Movement. In Tamil Nadu, nearly every successful actor harbours political ambitions, as cinema provides easy capital and instant visibility. In the DMK, for instance, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin acted in films not to establish a cinematic career but to create a political presence. Many actors have failed in this transition, though Vijayakanth made a temporary impact before fading from the political scene. Now, actor Vijay and his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam seek a larger-than-life role in Tamil Nadu politics.

M.G. Ramachandran waving to the crowd in Madras.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

While the DMK and its supporters often blame actors like Vijay and the allure of cinema, the Dravidian parties themselves bear primary responsibility. By discouraging political activity on college campuses and suppressing student movements in the name of discipline and order, they depoliticised an entire generation, leaving young people vulnerable to the appeal of film personalities largely devoid of political ideology.

This article is part of The Hindu e-book. Tamil Nadu’s progress: economic growth through social equality