Holding on to earlier success

Muthuvel Karunanidhi: In 2004, with a formidable alliance, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) swept Tamil Nadu by winning all 39 seats and became the reason for the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

In 2006, the DMK repeated the alliance to form a government in the state. The resounding Lok Sabha defeat now of all those who left the DMK to join the Opposition — like the Pattali Makkal Katchi — suggests the the DMK’s policies in the state were responsible for its success at the Centre. Some of these were the Re 1 a kg rice scheme, the free television scheme and other welfare measures. The shortage of power in Tamil Nadu apparently had little traction in the countryside. The 2004 DMK performance was not expected to be replicated but Karunanidhi succeeded in curbing anti-incumbency. He advised both his sons to bury the hatchet and managed to retain more than a dozen Lok Sabha seats with his ally, the Congress.