Father, son, and a war of words Premium

The rift between PMK founder S. Ramadoss and son Anbumani Ramadoss is fuelled by desperation

In 2011, during the run-up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader S. Ramadoss visited DMK leader M. Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence to invite him for a family wedding. Karunanidhi did not miss the opportunity to rope the PMK into the DMK-led alliance, even though the PMK had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as part of the AIADMK alliance. The PMK had failed to win a single seat in that election, despite being considered a powerful ally capable of tilting the scales of victory for any alliance. Yet, this perception of the party being a strong ally led Karunanidhi to generously allot 30 seats to the PMK and seal the alliance. However, the PMK managed to secure only three seats, proving that its decline had actually begun as early as 2009.

Dr. Ramadoss, a medical doctor by qualification, has always played his political cards carefully, switching alliances from one election to another, but failing to gauge the shifting sands of Tamil Nadu politics. In 2009, the PMK suffered defeat by aligning with the AIADMK. It was routed again in the 2011 polls. The emergence of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, led by actor Vijayakant, in 2005, also eclipsed the PMK’s influence in many areas.

The party has never been able to reclaim its past glory, despite having been part of the Union government from 1998 to 2009. During that time, Anbumani Ramadoss, Dr. Ramadoss’s son, held the health portfolio (2004-09). Today, despite its organisational strength and the support of the Vanniyars, its core base, the party finds itself at a crossroads due to the growing rift between Dr. Ramadoss and Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss.

In the 1980s, Dr. Ramadoss mobilised the Vanniyars by championing their claim for Most Backward Class status. After the DMK government led by Karunanidhi granted 20% reservation by grouping together several communities, including the Vanniyars, Ramadoss founded the PMK. In a symbolic gesture reminiscent of Piloo Mody, Dr. Ramadoss sent Panruti S. Ramachandran, the PMK’s lone MLA in 1991, to the Assembly riding an elephant — the symbol on which he won. The party performed well in the 1996, 2001, and 2006 Assembly elections.

The PMK entered the national stage when Dr. Ramadoss joined the AIADMK-BJP alliance in 1998 and secured a Union Cabinet berth for Dalit Ezhilmalai, the party’s general secretary. He remained with the BJP even after Jayalalithaa toppled the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. This paid off as the BJP-DMK combine made good gains in 1999. The PMK was allotted two ministerial berths in the BJP-led government. In 2004, along with the DMK, it joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, and Anbumani Ramadoss became a Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh government.

Dr. Ramadoss, who once acted as a bridge between the Vanniyars and Dalits, also sought to shed the image of being a solely Vanniyar party by espousing Tamil identity and working closely with Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan and Tamil nationalist leader Pazha Nedumaran. However, successive electoral defeats forced him to take refuge in caste-based politics. He even ran a campaign targeting the Scheduled Castes (SCs), accusing their youth of wearing jeans and sunglasses and luring girls from other communities for their wealth. In 2012, the tragic death of Dharmapuri Ilavarasan, an SC man, who married Divya, a Vanniyar woman, caused deep damage to the PMK’s image. Since then, it has not been able to shed the ‘Vanniyar party’ image.

The current war of words between father and son has crossed all limits and shocked observers who have followed the PMK for decades. Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss had always said that his father is his role model and has acknowledged his organisational skills.