The main Dravidian parties may be many things. But they are certainly not ancient or outdated.
No doubt, K, now seven short of century, has been alternating as CM since when I was five and looms as a prospect into my fifty. Stalin, sixty plus, with forty- five odd years of politics behind him is still a youthful aspirant. J became CM a year before my daughter was born and she, J at 67 is front runner (?) as she, my daughter, not J, is well into her PG. For decades the two key kazhagams have been the only choices. Yes, in such a case they should be deemed redundant.
But are they? Not a chance if you consider the way they have reinvented their party machinery and modus operandi. They can put a post-modern MNC to the shade in sheer organisational methods. The Multi level Marketing companies can learn lessons from their sales tactics. As for the reigning fad, Data Mining, well, Periyar’s political progeny have been practised pioneers in profiling the voting public, better and more accurate than the Census. And remember, these seemingly rustic karai veshtis are not operating in the cosy, cooled climes of Silicon Valley, but in the dusty and grimy terrain of a sun-drenched State.
There is another catch in TN. No party actually qualifies for a strong sales pitch here. All that is on offer are the aforesaid fossils that refuse to fade and instead fancy another fling at power. These faces apart, there are no redeeming principles that these parties can project either, not at least anything that distinguishes them. For e.g, on issues like Tamils of Sri Lanka or Tasmac, the duo’s stances have shifted and swayed like a clandestine boat on Palk Straits or .. a drunkard’s gait, if you prefer. In short, the only ware that is there to peddle are the pompous personalities perched on the pedestals; the man and of course, the woman, are the message. Indeed, it poses a huge management and marketing challenge to recycle such past political crap, er, scrap, and purvey them as perfect fits for the future.
But the kazhagams have so far successfully pulled it off. Alliances and absence of alternatives have traditionally worked to their advantage and this time it is different no doubt. Usual allies have formed an unusual alternative. But then the two main contestants have been quick on the take, like a diligent, savvy business enterprise. Politics is surely a different ball game and defies convenient comparisons to the corporate world. Yet, the similarities are striking. Just as a company juggles its staff and reserves for a fire fight, at the sound of poll bugle both parties launched an intense internal purge that flushed out not just troublesome partymen but also treasure troves of hoarded cash. These big brothers … and sisters have no ears for seat sharing, rather it is a favour they condescend to confer on their terms …do small franchisees bargain with a Reliance or Apple?
It is HR that is a high point. One function is to break up opponents, clear irritating pests and rid the poll scape of prickly weeds. While checking attrition from own turf is important, swelling the ranks by encouraging and engineering defections from others is considered a morale booster. But the real challenge for this department is managing the legions of manpower and the limited man hours available before voting. DMK owed its early successes to its reliable and strong cadre network which its offshoot AIADMK too inherited. These poll-hardened parties are adepts at motivating and mobilising partymen from grassroots to the top and the system seems to work on auto-pilot, also upgrading itself according to the times, while being fully insulated from changes in local heads or functionaries. A district secretary can be dropped with nary an effect on party fortunes, thanks to paranoid centralised control. ‘Central’, called High Command in national parties, means Family or Friend here.
Training and orientation are the buzzwords presently. Much investment in hi-tech campaign vehicles, video and holographic shows and sundry gadgetry have been made as also in state-of-art software and social media. Both Arivalayam and the AIADMK office are scenes of round-the-clock drills wherein zealous workers are turned into zombies and tutored for the hectic hustings ahead. And we hear they have taken to the neo novelties in all eagerness and enthusiasm. As seamless as a shift from analog to digital — after all it’s same old Aiyya or Amma in a new virtual bottle!
One aspect however has not emulated modernism: Funding, which remains old-world. There’s no Private Equity. Only public equity, our money looted over decades. Whether the parties’ business investments pay off or not, we pay. But that ‘minor’ aberration apart, here too there is much for the RBI, nay, even global banks to imbibe. At a time when trucks carrying ATM money in crores vanish sans trace, these parties spread around many times the cash in all the bank vaults, via very invisible channels that no Panama papers can ferret out. So efficient and so egalitarian that no constituency, no voter is starved. Ditto with doles in kind. So EC.
Hey, did someone say ‘Income Tax department’? Aah, they are busy splitting hairs over Rs 606.73/- that some unfortunate ass of an assessee failed to show as income in his IT return 4 years ago! Low hanging fruits, another fancy jargon, that.
e-mail the writer at [email protected]