ISAS Briefs

The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2016 are a multi-cornered contest. The main contestants are the All India Anna DMK (AIADMK) which is the ruling party in the State under the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa (or Amma as she is called) and the Darvida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which is the main opposition party under the leadership of Karunanidhi (Kalaignar). Ever since 1989, the DMK and the AIADMK have been alternating every election in ruling the State. There is very little of ideology left in the original Dravidian agenda that brought these forces to the fore some fifty years ago. Both parties have focused on populist programmes and freebies during their respective regimes, and in the run-up to the elections, are continuing to promise ever more free gifts.