Arun Lakshman/ Chennai
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has on February 2, Wednesday written a letter to 37 leaders across India including Congress president Sonia Gandhi inviting them to be a part of the All India Federation for Social Justice. Stalin in the letter mentioned that the organization was formed to ensure, “Everything for Everyone”.
Stalin had on January 26th announced the launch of the All India Federation of Social Justice on 26th January. Chief Minister had then said that his idea was to bring to a common platform all leaders, members of the civil society, and like-minded individuals and organizations to strive towards “ Achieving the principles of federalism and social justice at the national level”.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in his letter also mentioned to the 37 leaders that repressive forces were creating threat towards religious harmony and called upon the leaders cutting across national and regional political spectrum to unite for the sake of social justice.
In the letter, he also said in the letter that India’s unique, diverse and multicultural federation is under threat of bigotry and religious hegemony. The Chief Minister also requested the 37 leaders that his aim was not for any political gain but for re-establishing the pluralistic identity of the Indian Republic as visualized by the founding fathers of the country.
He also mentioned in the letter that All India Federation for Social Justice will be a platform to take forward the battle for social justice in India. Stalin also called upon other leaders to frame a common minimum programme to be uniformly adopted by the states.
The sudden splurge of Stalin into launching such an organization at the national level surprised many including his ardent followers in the DMK as the DMK leader had never any ambitions beyond Tamil Nadu.
Dr. Uma Maheswari, Political analyst and Professor of political science in a Chennai based private college while speaking to BPNS said, “Stalin seems to have gained confidence in administration since he led the DMK to power in May 2021 and he seems to have found out that there are not many senior leaders in the country who can aim to the top at the national level. He has already found out that this is chance and hence trying a knock at the National level. Only time will tell how much successful he can be but if he can get in half of the leaders to whom he has written the letter, the first step can be termed successful.”
After back to back electoral victories in 2019 General elections, 2021 assembly elections, 2021 rural local body elections, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president seems to have attained the confidence that the steps he has taken in politics were correct and that he seems to be trying to capitalize on the strength he has in Tamil Nadu for national leverage.
Stalin knows that there are two more years for the General elections and he will be in power in Tamil Nadu for more than 4 years and 3 months and hence there was nothing wrong in attempting a try at the national politics.
The presence of Prasanth Kishore, the political strategist in his fold has also given the hopes for Stalin to try and pitch in at the national level. The Tamil Nadu strong man also knows that Mamata Banerjee will not be supported by Congress and similar will be the case of Aravind Kejriwal, the two main contenders at the national level.
K. Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana is also not in the good books of the Congress party and Nitish Kumar who is with the NDA can also aim for the slot as other opposition parties will not throw in their support. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is trying to fill that vacuum and the coming days will only prove what was in store for Stalin.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu opposition leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami have come out against Stalin over his letter to the 37 leaders across the country. In a statement on Thursday, the AIADMK leader said that Stalin was nursing Prime Minster ambitions under the guise of an All India Federation for Social Justice.
The former Chief Minister also said that in the letter Stalin has not mentioned how social justice had been snatched away from the people of the state. He also said that it was not DMK but the AIADMK that had initially filed a case in the Madras High Court, demanding 50% reservation for Other Backward Classes in medical seats under the All India quota.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami also said that the DMK had not done anything to get the 27% quota implemented at the centre even after sharing power in New Delhi for 17 years with both the NDA and the UPA.
While Stalin is trying to bring in national level coordination under the umbrella of All India Federation for Social Justice, the opposition in his home state is not much amused even though the invitation was extended to the AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, O. Panneerselvam.
It is to be seen in the days to come as to how Stalin can break the jinx of opposition unity and bring up a formidable force across the country against the BJP. If such a proper coalition can be stitched together with the leaders not stabbing each other in the back, Stalin can very much aim for the top slot in the volatile political situation in the country.
