Tamil Nadu Politics is one of the most challenging area of research for most of the students of Indian politics . Most of the National Parties there has a strong hold over the functioning of the state. Apart from this there are numerous Regional Parties present in the state. Due to the presence of so many parties the political scenario of Tamil Nadu can be described as some what complicated and of course interesting. The aura that is created by Tamil Nadu Politics is diverse and is different from the rest of the country.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. He is one of the founder members of DMK and had been selected a President of DMK 1969 onwards. He represented the State Assembly for a number of times in his political career. Karunanidhi has been the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1969 to 71, 1971 to 76, 1989 to 91 and 1996 to 2001.
The Governor or the Constitutional Head of Tamil Nadu is Mr Surjit Singh Barnala. He was elected the MLA and remained in the Barnala Assembly Constituency till 1999. Later, he became the Education Minister of Punjab. In the later years, he was selected as an MP during the tenure of Morarji Desai. He became the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985. In 2004, he was again selected the Governor of Tamil Nadu for a second time
The political sphere of Tamil Nadu is vibrating and has a strong influence over the country's politics as well. Even before the British left India Tamil Nadu had an Independence movement, which was separatist.Tamil Nadu Politics today is still guided by the liberatarian fervor of the past. In Tamil Nadu these separatist movements are grounded in nationalism, ethinicity and language unlike those of the North and West that were based on religious difference.
The first conference of 'Tamil Nadu for Tamils' was held in December 10, 1939. The principal speaker in this conference was Mr. C.N. Annadurai, the chief lieutanent of Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy. In this etremely well articulated speech he explained the actual reason for this demand.
In 1963 the Congress Party Government of Prime Minister Jwaharlal Nehru enacted a law that banned political parties and individuals from demanding independence from India. As a reaction to this incident the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( DMK) abandoned it. But Periyar continued with the 'Tamil Nadu for Tamils' slogan. Some other individuals and grouops demanded a situation that is just next to total independence from India. However the dispute still continues.
Politics in Tamil Nadu is thus different from most of the other parts of India. The presence of so many regional and National Parties has brought in many more twists to this age old dispute.
Political parties of Tamilnadu
National Parties
National Parties of India having the most active presence in the political scenario of Tamil Nadu are the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP). They have quite a significant influence in the proceedings of the state. Due to the presence of these National Parties in Tamil Nadu the power remains more centralized to the Union Government. Their presence also causes a dependence of the state governments on them.
Some local parties, such as Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) and Rajive Tamil Nadu Congress are offshoots of the Congress Party. The TMC was founded by Moopanar and is now headed by his son Vasan and the Rajive Tamil Nadu Congress, named after Rajiv Gandhi, is headed by Ramamurthy. These offshoots pose a view that is not much different from the original National Parties. Their existence add another wave to the already dynamic scenario of Tamil Nadu Politics. On the one hand their foundation is grounded in regional issues but they follow the ideals of the National Parties. Their presence help in a more successful functioning of the National Parties in the state. However these parties do not have the extremely popular support like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The Regional Parties of Tamil Nadu mostly work mostly towards creation of a Tamil land that will be only for the Tamils. Though the ideological grounding of some of them act in creating an oppositional thrust to this very popular objective.
The primary goal of the Dravida Kazhagam and its offshoot Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has always been the creation of an independent Dravida Land separate from India. After the 1963 Act by the Congress Party Government of Prime Minister Jwaharlal Nehru banned parties and individual from demanding independence many individuals and Regional Political Parties started demanding a Tamil Nation within India with maximum delegation of authority. The important new Regional Parties that were formed with their base rooted in such an ideology are the Patali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Tamil National Movement. While the head of Patali Makkal Katchi is Ramadoss, the Tamil National Movement is led by Pazha Nedumaran.
Last Updated on 1/17/2011
