Tamil Nadu’s newly sworn-in Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay paid a visit to his predecessor MK Stalin at his Alwarpet home on May 11. Hours after MLAs had been sworn in at the Assembly, Vijay went to meet Stalin. Visuals showed Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin embracing Vijay, leading him inside the house, and exchanging pleasantries.
In a state that has for decades seen bitter rivalry and boycotts between political leaders, MK Stalin broke that tradition in 2016 by attending the swearing-in ceremony of J Jayalalithaa.
Though M Karunanidhi criticised Jayalalithaa for seating Stalin in the 10th row, Jayalalithaa responded by thanking him for attending. The moment was seen as a rare instance of political civility between the rival parties. Soon after, however, hostilities between the DMK and AIADMK resumed.
It has been a routine practice for leaders in Tamil Nadu to miss or boycott Assembly sessions, maintaining only bare-minimum attendance to prevent their seat from falling vacant.
The tradition was often traced back to late chief minister MG Ramachandran (MGR). In 1972, he moved a no-confidence motion in the Assembly against then CM M Karunanidhi and protested that his microphone was cut. MGR went on to declare that he would only return to the Assembly as chief minister. He did so in 1977. Until then, he simply signed the Assembly’s attendance register kept outside the main hall.
In 1989, late CM J Jayalalithaa stormed out of the Assembly after her saree was torn. Like MGR, she too swore to come back only as Chief minister and boycotted the rest of the sessions. After her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), won in 1991, Karunanidhi boycotted the oath-taking ceremony. This was also the year when DMK won just two seats and Karunanidhi resigned as MLA.
In 1996, the DMK won. Jayalalithaa, in turn, boycotted the ceremony. She also stayed away from Assembly sessions. In 2001, after the AIADMK’s victory, Karunanidhi did the same.
This persisted until 2011, when the AIADMK was back in power. While Karunanidhi continued the boycott trend. He would sign the attendance register outside the assembly hall and then leave.
Stalin, by then elected opposition leader, regularly attended Assembly sessions. Further, the DMK accused the state government of denying Karunanidhi seating arrangement with wheelchair access.
The scenes on May 10 earned praise from political leaders. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan described the meeting as the “hallmark of political maturity”.
Vaiko said that the meetings reminded him of the time former CM and DMK founder Anna Durai made courtesy calls to opposition leaders after his debut victory in 1976. “I have asked him to follow the path of secularism,” Vaiko added.
Vijay made courtesy calls not only to Stalin but also to Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) president Vaiko, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) president Seeman.