The row over Karunanidhi’s ‘Anna way-Periyar way’ remark during 1991 election campaign

Unaware that Tamil Nadu would be the site of the gruesome assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi along with 15 others in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, the state by then witnessed Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections not unlike previous events. Initially, May 26, 1991 was set as the voting date in the state. However, after the assassination, it was postponed to June 15.

As is characteristic of the state, the poll campaign also reached a feverish pitch with leaders descending from various parts of the country and local leaders launching an all-out effort to woo voters. Public and street corner meetings continued as usual; major political parties maintained cadre morale; This meant providing them with food, money and drink in most cases.

According to an estimate made by Hindu A report dated May 12, 1991, stated that while a candidate for an Assembly seat would need to cough up between ₹6 lakh and ₹10 lakh depending on the composition and distribution of the constituency, a Lok Sabha candidate might need to come up with anything. ₹ 25 lakh to ₹ 30 lakh. “Perhaps the parties would be in a position to offer 20 per cent of this, the rest depending on the influence and skill of the contestants,” he said.

early elections

Both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly were facing early polls. The ninth Lok Sabha, constituted on 2 December 1989, was to function until December 1994 but was dissolved on 13 March 1991. Likewise, the ninth Legislative Assembly, constituted on February 6, 1989, was dissolved on January 30, 1991. M. Karunanidhi of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was sacked by the Union government headed by Chandra Shekhar, who then relied on the Congress and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for support in the Lok Sabha. It is the fourth time in its history that Tamil Nadu has come under the President’s rule and this remains the last such instance.

The DMK seems to still hold a grudge against him as the then President R. Venkataraman had approved the Union Cabinet’s proposal for the declaration of Presidential rule. Venkataraman died in January 2009. On his decision, Venkataraman says in his memoirs: My presidential yearsHe justified this by saying that the office of the President is not an “appeal or supervisory” authority over the office of the Prime Minister. “It was my duty to act on the advice of the Cabinet as long as the proposed action did not violate the provisions of the Constitution,” Venkataraman said.

The dismissal of the DMK regime was more controversial than other similar operations because the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, SS Barnala, had refused to send a report to the Center recommending the implementation of Presidential rule in the State under Article 356 as dictated by the Centre. For this, Venkataraman’s explanation was that it was “undisputed” that the Union government could act on the basis of the Governor or any other report. The former President, therefore, stated that the absence of the Governor’s report was “no fault” and reminded that in 1977, the Janata government at the Center had dismissed the Councils of Ministers in nine States without the reports of the respective Governors.

As has been the norm since the 1977 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, DMK and AIADMK-led formations were the main players. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) contested alone in 1991. While the DMK-led coalition includes the Janata Dal and two Left parties; AIADMK’s allies included the Congress, United Communist Party of India (UCPI), Republican Party of India, Forward Bloc, Farmers Laborers party and Human Rights Party. DMK contested on 171 seats and AIADMK contested on 164 seats.

J. Jayalalithaa and Rajiv Gandhi at a public meeting in Madras on April 18, 1991 | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives

From the very beginning, there was a hint that the AIADMK-led alliance would win the Assembly elections. This did not come as a surprise as even in the Lok Sabha elections of November 1989 the coalition won all 39 constituencies except Nagapattinam. The 227 was ahead of its main rival and others in the Assembly segment and the six-seat DMK-head front; PMK rose to the front position in a single segment which is Taramangalam district of Salem district.

Opinion polls were also in favor of the AIADMK-Congress combine, which was then headed by J. Jayalalithaa. An early opinion poll commissioned by Frontlinesister publication HinduIt found that in three Assembly constituencies in Madras (now Chennai), the AIADMK-Congress(I) front had a lead of 7 percentage points over the DMK-led front. The “early days” survey conducted by the Apt Research Group between April 5-7, 1991, revealed that the vote share of the AIADMK-Congress alliance was 45.9%, while that of the DMK-led front was 38.72%. A month later, Hindu-MARG conducted an opinion poll in Tamil Nadu that showed the alliance was in almost the same command position as in November 1989, when it won a landslide victory.

It was in this context that DMK president and former Prime Minister Karunanidhi stunned political observers with the following statement he made during his campaign in Coimbatore district on May 15: “If we win, we will follow Anna’s path.” [DMK founder and former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai] and if we are defeated we will go to Periyar [Dravida Kazhagam founder E.V. Ramasamy] path.”

In a news article published by this newspaper on May 16, 1991, it was stated that the words created “some confusion.” Later in the day, he quickly clarified that by ‘Anna way’ he meant DMK would form the government, and by ‘Periyar way’ he meant ‘not contesting elections’. Even this statement did not satisfy many and a spokesman for the Dravidian major was later forced to say that the DMK’s stand would be known after the results were declared.

R. Kannan, biographer of Annadurai and M. G. Ramachandran and DMK YearsHe explains that DMK was formed with the aim of fighting elections. “That was the only reason why Anna and the others left Periyar,” he adds.

More specifically, he says Periyar’s way is to go back to basics: “An impossibility in electoral politics. Electoral politics requires endless compromise and compromise.”

He also recalls that in August 1983, just after the anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka, Karunanidhi made an offer that his party would not attempt to come to power and the Congress could rule the state for 10 years if the Centre, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, sent troops to the neighboring country.

Karunanidhi himself put to rest the controversy surrounding his observation about the “Anna road-Periyar road” at a public meeting held in Madurai in June 1991. “He always wanted to work like Periyar and always followed the path shown by Anna, Periyar and the Justice Party.” Hindu Reported June 9, 1991.

Unsurprisingly, the results of the 1991 Assembly elections were one-sided and the AIADMK-Congress combine secured 225 Assembly seats. Karunanidhi was the only DMK candidate to win from Harbour. He later resigned and DMK candidates emerged victorious in the (earlier cancelled) bye elections in Harbor and Egmore constituencies.