By Justice Katju
I had posted several comments on twitter about the recent Tamilnadu state assembly elections in which the DMK and ADMK , which had ruled the state for long, were humbled by a third, newly emerged, party, the TVK, led by filmstar Vijay. Some of such tweets are given below :
” Dravidian politics is a huge fraud on the good but gullible people of Tamilnadu. Both the DMK and ADMK encashed it, and made tons of money. That is why the people of Tamilnadu rejected both these worthless parties of rogues, rascals, and jokers, and opted for a third alternative, the TVK, led by a film actor and demagogue Vijay, little realising that they are only going from the frying pan into the fire ”
and
” People of Tamilnadu were totally fed up of the DMK and ADMK, these parties of rogues, rascals, and jokers, who claimed to represent Dravidian ideology, and encashed it by making tons of money. Hence this time they chose a third alternative, led by a clown, film actor and empty headed person Vijay, who has no clue how to solve the massive socio-economic problems of Tamilnadu, and thus went from the frying pan into the fire ”.
Several Tamilians strongly criticised me for these tweets, asking how can Tamilnadu be described as a state ruined by Dravidian politics, when it was one of the leading states in India in industrial growth, education, healthcare, and social welfare, compared to several other states which were struggling with unemployment, poor infrastructure, communal tension, weak healthcare systems, and extreme poverty ? They said that Tamilnadu had consistently performed far better on most socio-economic indicators.
Now it is true that Tamilnadu is one of the leading states in India with respect to the matters referred to above. But I submit that it is so despite Dravidian politics, not because of it.
In my opinion, Tamilnadu is one of the leading states in India for two reasons :
(1) It had an upright Chief Minister, Kamaraj from 1954 to 1963 who was totally dedicated to uplifting Tamilnadu, and it was due to the foundation he laid that the subsequent progress of the state took place, not because of the later corrupt Dravidian politics of the DMK and ADMK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Kamaraj
I have written an article praising him, which is given below :
During his tenure as Chief Minister, industries, engineering colleges, schools, infrastrucure etc were built in the state, which created the foundation of the state’s future growth, and Prime Minister Nehru openly said that Tamilnadu was the best administered state in India.
Kamaraj was an epitome of integrity in public life. He was personally honest to the core, and totally incorruptible, and when he died he hardly left any assets. Compare this with the massive corruption and loot by the Karunanidhi family, details of which are given in the article below :
https://www.hastakshepnews.com/2025/11/justice-markandey-katju-calls-again.html
So Dravidian politics has nothing to do with Tamilnadu’s progress, rather such progress was because of the foundation laid by the great Kamaraj.
(2) It is because of the bright minds, ingenuity and hard work of the people of Tamilnadu, not because of Dravidian politics, that the state has made such progress. In fact Dravidian politics, which was only meant for befooling Tamilians and getting their votes, retarded the progress of the state by diverting much of its wealth into the private coffers of the DMK and ADMK leaders. Had there been upright and dedicated Chief Ministers of Tamilnadu like Kamaraj after he relinquished office, the state’s progress would have been several times faster.
Tamilnadu has produced brilliant scientists ( like the Nobel Prize winners C.V. Raman and Subrahmanya Chandrasekhar ), mathematicians ( like Srinivas Ramanujan ), engineers, doctors, etc and its people are very hard working. In recent years they have done extremely well in the IT industry, and Silicon Valley in California is full of them ( as I have personally seen ). So it is the people of Tamilnadu and Kamaraj who are the cause of the state’s progress, not the corrupt Dravidian politics
