Born in revolt against the AIADMK in 1996, the party lost its relevance when it joined hands with the same party. Under pressure from his family and his own party followers, Moopanar agreed to an alliance with AIADMK after Jayalalitha called on him at his residence. Left without an ally, the TMC was routed in the 1999 elections. It was a tragedy that Moopanar’s TMC proved to be short-lived after Karunanidhi took the DMK into the BJP camp and joined the Vajpayee Government. It was this trait which made him stand out for he rarely spared friends or foes when they strayed from the right path. The alliance routed the notoriously corrupt Jaya regime in 1996. Much against will and on the urgings of journalists close to him, Cho met Karunanidhi at Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, thus breaking the ice and bringing Moopanar into the DMK fold. He remained a critic of Karunanidhi throughout his life though he was instrumental in bringing G K Moopanar’s fledgling Tamil Manila Congress to the DMK camp. Undaunted, he carried on with his trenchant criticism of Karunanidhi. Cho took up the cudgels against the regime and predictably, his magazine came under attack from DMK goons. So was he to the equally momentous events like DMK Karunanidhi’s second government from 1971 to 76 which was marked by violence and unprecedented corruption. But its government fell in less than two years because of inherent contradictions.Ĭho was witness to the tumultuous happenings of those days. When the Janata Party, a khichdi of assorted anti-Indira Gandhi parties like the Jana Sangh, and socialist parties, came into being after the emergency, it routed Indira. In one of the first issues after the censorship came into force, Cho got around the censors by carrying a review of age-old Tamil movie, Sarvathakari (Dictator). It was a dig on the “Maut Ka Saudagar” comment made by Sonia Gandhi during the 2007 Gujarat election campaign.While tall leaders like Advani and Vajpayee were jailed by Indira, Kamaraj was spared because of his ill-health.Ĭho’s Thuglak was among the handful of magazines and newspapers like DMK’s Murasoli, Mainstream and Indian Express, which stood up to censorship during the 19 months of emergency. In the 2008 event, Cho invited Narendra Modi to the Stage by introducing him as “The Merchant of Death” and then paused before declaring that he was the Merchant of Death to “Corruption, Nepotism, inefficiency etc. In fact, Cho played a key role to build a friendship between J Jayalalithaa and Mr Modi. As chief minister of Gujarat, Mr Modi had attended the annual reader conference of Cho’s Thuglak magazine twice – in 20. In his last decade, Cho was a vociferous supporter of Narendra Modi and one of the first voices advocating that he be made the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP. His legendary wit reflected in every answer he gave to questions from readers and even those he had criticised, M Karunanidhi or J Jayalalithaa included, had to concede their admiration for him. Thuglak, the magazine Cho founded in 1970 was a platform that carried his political views and assessment of socio-political issues. But that did not stop him from opposing her vociferously when her first tenure as chief minister (1991-96) turned into an authoritarian and corrupt display of power. In 1996, late Cho Ramaswamy played a key role in bringing together an opposition alliance against AIADMK supremo and then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa.Ĭho was a personal friend to Jayalalithaa from her days as an actor. He did not do it for power or position, but because he believed it was right and he did it with his legendary wit!
The late actor-journalist Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy, better known as Cho Ramaswamy, scripted several pre poll alliances in Tamil Nadu in the last three decades.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a politician, like Pawar in a quest for power and position, to be alliance makers. There are very few such personalities in Indian politics that can reach out and be trusted by all sides to be architects of difficult alliances. Sharad Pawar has proved that he is a rare politician with the power of personal friendships cutting through the political spectrum that can help script an alliance of opposites.
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