Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin unveils statue of former PM VP Singh in Chennai

Related: Stalin’s invite to Akhilesh Yadav sparks talk of his national ambitions

The invitation to Yadav

Stalin had, in April, announced that the Tamil Nadu government would install a statue for Singh, then recalling that the former prime minister had implemented the 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Union government jobs based on the recommendation of the BP Mandal Commission.

The invitation to Yadav sparked speculation that Stalin was seeking a bigger role for the DMK in the national political scene.

On 20 April, Stalin announced in the state Assembly that Singh’s statue would be installed in Chennai as a token of gratitude of the Tamil people for his contribution to social justice. It was under Singh that the Mandal Commission recommendations of reservations for OBCs were implemented.

The announcement came a couple of weeks after the DMK had hosted a national-level conference with 19 Opposition leaders from across the country.

VIDEO | Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav unveil statue of former PM VP Singh in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/xzXCnBOz0E

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 27, 2023

All India Federation for Social Justice

At the conclave, Stalin launched the All India Federation for Social Justice, a forum of Opposition parties against the BJP. It later seeded the formation of the Opposition INDIA bloc

Since the BJP has been taking on the INDIA bloc using the DMK’s anti-Sanatana Dharma stand in election campaigns in north India, the DMK decided to employ social justice as an effective counterpoint to the saffron party, making it the motif in the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Typically, Stalin would invite all party national leaders or constitutional authorities like the President to such major functions. To unveil his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s statue, he invited the then vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu.

But choosing Yadav, specifically, for the unveiling of Singh’s statue has raised several questions regarding the political calculations of the DMK, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Also read: NEET was imposed on Tamil Nadu, exemption will happen: Stalin

Relationship of DMK with VP Singh

Explaining the relationship between DMK and VP Singh, G Nagendran, Professor of Political Science, had earlier said, “Earlier, in the late 1980s and 1990s, though the DMK had been in the Congress-led alliance, the national party disregarded DMK several times. It was VP Singh who gave proper recognition to the DMK in Delhi politics. The DMK’s first Union minister was Murasoli Maran in the VP Singh Cabinet.”

“The BJP toppled the Singh government in 1990 over the Mandal agitation. Though the BJP had supported the Singh government, it opposed the OBC reservation. They took Singh’s opposition to their Ram Rath Yatra as a reason to topple the government,” he told South First earlier.

By then, the DMK was the only party left supporting the Singh government and it organised rallies in support of the Mandal Commission report for four days across Tamil Nadu.

“The DMK president Karunanidhi and Murasoli Maran took Singh on a tour throughout the state and projected themselves as the political champions of social justice,” Nagendran said.

Why Yadav was invited

Speaking to South First earlier, Professor Constantine Ravindran, spokesperson of DMK said, “In his speeches, Singh would say, ‘Delhi may be the capital of India, but Tamil Nadu is the capital of social justice’. He would also explain in simple terms why reservation for OBCs was brought in. He argued in almost all his speeches that the South fared better than Northern states, attributing the same to social justice measures and policies.”

“He argued that equal distribution of power was what he aimed through the 27 percent reservation for OBCs. He asserted that he was proud to have lost his government for standing for the cause of social justice,” he added.

When asked about the significance and political calculations in inviting the Samajwadi leader to unveil Singh’s statue, Ravindran said, “Everyone knows about the relationship between Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Mulayam Singh and it continues (with the next generation) even after the two great leaders.”

“Akhilesh is the OBC leader at the national level. A couple of months ago, Akhilesh stated that the Samajwadi Party is the DMK of North India. He is the apt one to unveil the statue.”

(With PTI inputs)