The south, especially Tamilnadu, has always played a key role in Indian politics. From Kamaraj to Karunanidhi, leaders from the State were kingmakers who decided who should rule the country as Prime Minister. Perhaps following the tradition, DMK president M K Stalin made a proposal Sunday evening, at the unveiling of the statue of his father and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, that Congress president Rahul Gandhi should become the PM.
“From the soil of Tamilnadu, I propose the name of Rahul Gandhi for the prime ministerial candidate,” Stalin said. He recalled Karunanidhi’s words in the past welcoming Indira Gandhi to provide good governance (Nehruvin Magale Varuga, Nallatchi Tharuga) and Sonia Gandhi in 2004 (Welcome, daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi, India’s daughter should win), and said he was now proposing Rahul as the next Prime Minister. “On the occasion of the unveiling of Kalaignar’s statue event, as the son of Karunanidhi, I propose the name of Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister to lead the country,” he said, and added: “Rahul Gandhiye Varuga, Nallatchi Tharuga.”
Though there has been a talk that Rahul would be the Congress-led alliance’s prime ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, this was for the first time his name was officially proposed as the next Prime Minister, that too at a time when the Congress is basking in the glory of defeating BJP and winning the Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh under his leadership. Stalin proposing his name also comes at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are due in five months and hardly a week after when Rahul chairing a meeting of Opposition parties (21 parties) in New Delhi to devise the strategy to oust the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. With the voice coming from Tamilnadu, it has gained pan-Indian attention. And the people, the ultimate bosses of democracy, will decide whether to make it a reality or not.