DMK completed 75 years of its existence today. Chief Minister and DMK President M.K. Stalin extolled the Dravidian movement and its successive leadership saying that thousand-year-old superstitions have been eradicated.
In a post on X, CM Stalin wrote, “DMK completes 75 years in politics. We became a band of brothers to defend Tamil when it faced any trouble. This movement eradicated thousand-year-old superstitions. This cadre congratulates everyone who has worked for the party safeguarded by Kalaignar. Looking forward to seeing you all at the 75-year completion programme.“
It was on September 17, 1949, when a group of young Tamil men, led by their leader C.N. Annadurai, gathered in Robinson Park at Royapuram in Madras to launch the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The party was formed as a breakaway faction of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) floated by the legendary E.V.Ramasami Periyar.
The party contested the Assembly elections in 1957 for the first time but could win only 15 Assembly seats. However, its top leaders, including.C.N.Annadurai and V.R. Nedunchezhiyan were defeated but in 1962 it fared better winning fifty Assembly seats and becoming the principal opposition party.
In two decades of its formation, in 1967 it evolved into a major regional party that was elected to power replacing the Congress in the then Madras State. It was the first party other than the Indian National Congress (INC) that won a state Assembly election in the country with an absolute majority.
C.N.Annadurai became the first Chief Minister of DMK and took the initiative to rename Madras state as Tamil Nadu. He introduced the two-language policy in schools which led to students learning only English and Tamil while in the neighbouring southern states, it was three languages that included English, Hindi and the concerned regional language.
Interestingly DMK had only three presidents since its inception — C.N. Annadurai, Kalaignar Karunanidhi and M.K.Stalin. All three became Chief Ministers of the state.