MK Stalin’s ‘Rahul as PM’ Exhortation – Congress Won’t Mind It!

DMK leaders insist that Stalin’s ‘Rahul as PM’ exhortation was his own.

DMK leaders insist that Stalin made the statement on his own, saying that Rahul is the obvious choice to lead the alliance.

Did MK Stalin make the announcement that Rahul Gandhi will be the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress led alliance at the behest of the Congress party?

Highly placed DMK sources, on condition of anonymity, insist that there were no back channel talks or even a suggestion from the Congress to that effect.

In fact, they say that Stalin made the announcement on his own and it may have even taken the leaders on the stage at the public rally in Chennai, which included Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, N Chandrababu Naidu and Pinarayi Vijayan, by surprise.

Stalin's Quest to Build His Stature

Stalin is, and has been since he took charge of the DMK, in the quest to build his stature and emerge as a leader, like his father was, who could claim to be a key architect of a UPA alliance in 2019.

In his speech, he recounted how his father declared Mrs Sonia Gandhi as the leader of the UPA ahead of the 2004 parliamentary elections and said “We welcome Indira’s daughter-in-law and victory to India’s noble daughter”.

This quest to emerge a key architect at the national level seems to have been the main objective behind the DMK president taking the lead and making the announcement. However, it also reflects a new sense of confidence after the Congress won three out of five State assembly elections earlier this month.

DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said:

“It is important to build a cohesive alliance and for that it is imperative to declare, unambiguously, the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance. We are sure all secular and democratic forces see Mr. Gandhi as the obvious choice.”

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, DMK Rajya Sabha MP

Interestingly, even the Congress had not made a strong public pitch for Rahul to be named the prime ministerial candidate and allies like Mr Naidu, speaking before the results of the assembly polls were declared, had left the issue open and said it will be decided later.

2019: Rahul vs Modi Battle?

But, at the same time, it seems clear that incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi will turn the 2019 campaign into a Rahul versus himself battle.

His campaign style has been to make personal attacks on the Congress president and since he has done that even in assembly elections it is only expected of him to intensify it in a parliamentary poll.

In that case, it may be imprudent to have an opposition without categorical leadership and could convey that it is an unstable coalition that lacks clarity and a decisive road-map.

While many parties, like the Bahujan Samaj Party or the Trinamool Congress, have taken a categorical position against the BJP, they have not taken a position on joining the Congress-led alliance or backing Rahul Gandhi.

Stalin’s announcement may now nudge them to decide one way or the other. This will help crystalize the polity into a Rahul-versus-Modi presidential type race in 2019. In other words, a third alternative is a non-starter in the present scenario.

By taking the lead, MK Stalin may also upstage Naidu, who has been the one reaching out to allies so far. Naidu’s position was weakened after the defeat of the Congress-TDP alliance in Telangana and Stalin may be in a better position to reach out to the TRS, if the need arises.

Further, DMK leaders point out that Mr. Naidu was a BJP ally till recently whereas the DMK has been with the UPA since 2004 and that gives Stalin greater ideological credibility.

Having been in the Congress led alliance over the last decade the DMK also has close equations and trust with parties like the NCP and TMC, this may help cement alliances, say party sources.

DMK – The Custodian of Dravidian Politics?

In Tamil Nadu, Stalin has already taken a strong ideological position against the BJP and has portrayed the DMK as the only custodian of Dravidian, secular values.

With this, he has scripted a Dravidian versus Hindutva narrative for 2019 and has accused the ruling AIADMK regime as those close to a central government “destroying core Dravidian values of secularism, social justice and rational thought”.

This position will help Stalin take on even new entrants into politics, like Rajnikanth, if they ally with the BJP. In effect, they are either with the DMK or against the core of Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian values is how Stalin has projected the 2019 fight.

However, can the Congress-led alliance script a similar narrative across the country where regional parties will be forced to side with it or be seen as against secular values is not clear.

Not all regional satraps seem to be bowled over by the Congress president and it may require persuasion and more than a fair share of the bargain to unite all of them under one umbrella in a pre-poll alliance.

(The writer is an independent journalist. He can be reached at @TMVRaghav . This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)