Tamil National Party

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Tamil National Party was a short-lived political party formed in 1961 in Tamil Nadu, India. The party finds its roots with the split in Dravidar Kazhagam after which Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was formed. E. V. K. Sampath, a founding member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, left the party following differences with the party leadership. The differences arose due to the DMK's stance on achieving an independent nation called Dravida Nadu. Nevertheless, within years the Tamil National Party was merged with Indian National Congress.

Contents

E. V. K. Sampath and DMK

E. V. K. Sampath was nephew of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy [1] and for a long time considered his political heir. [2] He entered into a feud with Periyar after the latter married a woman much younger to him. Periyar soon after the marriage declared his new wife as his political heir and thus upsetting Sampath's aspirations. The marriage itself had caused opposition within the Dravidar Kazhagam, the social organisation that Periyar was heading. E. V. K. Sampath along with C. N. Annadurai broke away from Dravidar Kazhagam and formed their own party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. [3]

Differences on using movie media

Tamil cinema has been used extensively for propaganda for Dravidian politics. Although the Indian National Congress in the region did use movies and stars for propaganda, it was shunned upon by major Congress leaders. DMK to the contrary used the Tamil film industry as a major political organ. Thus movie stars held high ranks in the party. Sampath vehemently opposed the importance given to film stars in the party. [4]

Birth of Tamil National Party

The differences between E. V. K. Sampath and Annadurai finally gave way on their stands on Dravida Nadu. Dravida Nadu was envisaged by Periyar E. V. Ramasami as an independent nation that included South India. [5] Periyar and later Annadurai considered that remaining in the Union meant accepting linguistic domination of the North and backwardness of the South. [6] Nevertheless, after touring the Soviet Union, [1] E. V. K. Sampath opposed the call for Dravida Nadu and declared that the idea of independent Dravida Nadu was an impossible task to achieve. [7] With this difference E. V. K. Sampath and his supporters left DMK and formed their own party. Thus Tamil National Party was born [7] in 1961. [4] Some of the well known members of the party included Kannadasan, M. P. Subramaiam, Pazha Nedumaran [1] and Sivaji Ganesan. [8]

Policies of the party

The policies of the party were: [1]

Merger with Congress

Soon after the departure from DMK Tamil National Party members closely associated with that of the Congress party. At that time Periyar and his Dravidar Kazhagam was close with Kamaraj the leader of the Congress party. [9] Thus when Kamaraj invited Sampath to join the Congress, Sampath merged Tamil National Party with the Congress party in 1964. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1967 Madras State Legislative Assembly election</span> Election on 5–21 February 1967

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifth Assembly of Tamil Nadu</span>

The fifth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held in March 1971. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was re-elected, after its first victory under the leadership of C N Annadurai in 1967. This was the first time M. Karunanidhi, contested as the leader of DMK party won the election, since he assumed Chief Ministership for the first time, after the death of C N Annadurai. Karunanidhi had emerged successfully in the leadership crisis with other party leaders M. G. Ramachandran, and Nedunchezhiyan, which ensued after the death of C. N. Annadurai. The main opposition party in the election was Indian National Congress (Organisation) led by K. Kamaraj, whereas the Indian National Congress (Indira) faction aligned with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. This was the last election that had only 2 major parties in Tamilnadu. After the election, MGR was slowly cornered out of DMK, and finally he formed AIADMK, which has since then been the close equal of DMK.

The Kallakudi demonstration was organised by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on 15 July 1953 in Kallakudi, Tiruchirappalli district against naming the place as Dalmiapuram. Ramakrishna Dalmia, a businessman from Bihar, established a cement factory in Kallakudi and the place was renamed Dalmiapuram on his request. DMK opposed the move as a suppression of South Indians by North India. It was the first notable demonstration by M Karunanidhi, the five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and his party, the DMK. The DMK party blocked passenger trains during the protest.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sampath, Iniyan. "Famil background". Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  2. ↑ Kumar, Vinoj (8 June 2004). "Priest-less weddings in TN VIP families". Sify News. Archived from the original on 8 February 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  3. ↑ Subramaniam, V (9 October 1998). "Celebrating a half century". Frontline. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  4. 1 2 Velayutham, Selvaraj (2008). Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN   978-0-415-39680-6.
  5. ↑ Rajagopalan, Swarna (2001). State and Nation in South Asia. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 152–154. ISBN   1-55587-967-5.
  6. ↑ Bukowski, Jeanie J; Swarna Rajagopalan (2000). Re-distribution of Authority. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 19–21. ISBN   0-275-96377-2.
  7. 1 2 Hardgrave, Robert. L (1979). Essays in the Political Sociology of South India. Usha, 1979 (Originally published by University of Michigan. p. 70. ISBN   978-81-7304-052-8.
  8. ↑ "Sivaji Ganesan". Upperstall. 22 July 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  9. ↑ Jayakanthan, Dandapani (2006). A Literary Man's Political Experiences. Read Books. pp. 111–113. ISBN   978-1-4067-3569-7.
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