Situation in north is different; there is polarization in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the main rivals are the Congress and the BJP. The two parties are different ideologically and politically. The voters have, therefore, no problem in choosing persons of their choice.

The Congress has been completely marginalized in the Tamil Nadu; the party received setbacks after setbacks. In 2014 Lok Sabha election the congress candidates lost their security deposits in 38 of 39 seats. It received second jolt when late GK Moopanar’s son, GK Vasan, walked out of the Congress and revived the TMC. Many Congress leaders joined revived TMC.

Interestingly, well-known film icon, MG Ramachandran, broke away from the DMK and formed a new party and named it after Annadurai; the AIADMK. As is known Annadurai was founder of the DMK. The AIADMK won over the remaining Congress voters and emerged as the main opposition party.

Both the Dravidian parties established their separate vote banks. Despite efforts to win voters in urban middle class and promise to make the lot of government employees better, Jayalalithaa lost election in 2006. DMK, which had come to power, took many populist measures like reducing the price of items available at fair price shops and starting mid-day meal scheme. It also gifted coloured television sets to rational card holders.

There is yet another similarity between the DMK and AIADMK. Both became partners, by turn, in the coalition at the centre led by the Congress and the BJP respectively. Both the Dravidian parties have been opposed to Hindi. Ideologically and politically there is hardly any difference between the two parties; both have identical popular base. Except Tamil Nadu there is no other state in the Indian union where rival parties have so much in common yet they continue to be sworn enemies.

For last few years DMK’s stock have been down because of infighting in the state unit, poor health of Karunanidhi and mounting cases of corruption. Meanwhile, stars of the AIADMK-led by Jayalalithaa have been on rise. In the ongoing election too Jayalalithaa remains unbeaten in face of a regrouping of similar parties and the challenge of DMK.

This is the same Jayalalithaa who suffered the indignity of being convicted in September 2014 in disproportionate assets case. She managed to emerge unsullied after her exoneration by the Karnataka High Court in May 2015 and has since strengthened her position by lunching new populists schemes.

In the 2011 Assembly elections, the AIADMK alliance swept to power, winning 203 of the total of 234 seats, with AIADMK alone securing a simple majority. Further emboldened by her party’s triumph in the 2014 General Election in which it won 37 of the 30 Lok Sabha seats, Jayalalithaa is going alone this time around.

It is unlikely that there has been any erosion in her vote bank. She is not trying anything new and is not unduly worried. She is simply going through the motion of campaigning.

In constituencies were over 50 per cent are Dalits, many families that live in stifling poverty look up to Amma as their savior. “If it was not for her government, people like us would go hungry”, say Dalit voters.

For a long time AIADMK had believed that they can purchase the Dalit vote bank without attaching any real value to it as if they are a commodity. They are now realising their rights and may vote for “amma” this time but not all the time.

Even as Karunanidhi’s pet son, Stalin tours the state in a desperate bid to connect with and win back votes, the DMK, which has given 41 seats to the Congress, is struggling to quell infighting among the party leaders.

The story of death of emotion in Tamil Nadu electioneering runs parallel to the political trajectory of Jayalalithaa, who turned the Dravidian tradition of powerful oratory on its head. She did not inherit her benefactor MGR’s easy charm or ability to turn a dithery voter. Words were not her weapon of choice. Her larger than life persona and a careful cultivated aura of mystery made up for that. At any rate, a heap of biryani and a few hundred rupees could just as easily pull the crowd. (IPA Service)