For Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), this could probably be the most important elections in his more than 60 years of political career. At 86 years, this old warhorse, who is a key ally of the Congress party, is fighting with his back to the wall. For him at stake is more than getting his party candidates as well as those of the Congress elected to the Indian Parliament. The results of the elections might very well decide his political future, as there are speculations, notwithstanding denials from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, that the Congress might decide to ditch him in favor of his opponent J. Jayalalitha’s AIADMK, if the latter manages to win the majority of seats from Tamil Nadu, as has been predicted. And if that happens, the fate of the Karunanidhi government in Tamil Nadu becomes a big question mark, as it is dependent on the support of the Congress for its survival.

Laid low by a recent back surgery, that has prevented him from actively campaigning for his alliance, Karunanidhi is nevertheless confident that the DMK-Congress combo will still win the battle in Tamil Nadu.

Excerpts from an interview:

You must be much relieved now that both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party President Sonia Gandhi have affirmed their full commitment to the alliance with the DMK, after all the confusion created by Rahul Gandhi’s statements on post-election realignment with like-minded parties. Did Rahul’s statement create any doubt in your mind about the post-poll fate of the alliance, especially as a Congress alliance with AIADMK would have led to withdrawal of support to the DMK government in the state and the fall of your government?

I had no doubts though some of my party cadres did become concerned. Immediately after the statement came on television, I contacted P. Chidambaram (Congress leader and home minister), who in turn had spoken to Rahul himself. What Rahul had made was a general statement about like-minded parties. And AIADMK is definitely not a like-minded party as far as Congress is concerned. The AIADMK leader (Jayalalitha) has been using very harsh words of criticism against the Congress for the last three-four years. And during the last parliamentary elections (in 2004) she had carried out a very personalized attack on Sonia, using her foreign origin to even question her commitment to India. How can such a party be a like-minded party for Congress? That’s why I was not concerned. Of course, you people in the media made a big noise about it, claiming that I was unhappy with Rahul’s comments and so had refused to attend the election campaign meeting with Sonia, which was never the case at all.

During the 2004 elections, you forged a formidable alliance with the Congress, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), the MDMK and the two left parties, and won all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu as well as the lone seat in neighboring Pondicherry. But this time, the PMK, MDMK and the left parties are no longer a part of your alliance. Given the arithmetic of vote share of the parties, do you think you will be able to at least win half the total number of seats in the state?

Please don’t underestimate this alliance or the people of the state. The other parties might have deserted us and gone over to the side of AIADMK. But the DMK-Congress alliance is not dependent on the number of parties, but on the performance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the national level and the DMK government led by me at the state level. The UPA government under the able leadership of Manmohan Singh and the guidance of Sonia has done a remarkable job in alleviating the suffering of the common man. Schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Program, and waiver of agricultural loans have done wonders for rural economy, which had been neglected all these years. On our part, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has implemented schemes like distribution of rice at Rs.2 per kilogram and free color televisions to those below poverty line have earned this government also a very good name. People know that the Congress at the national level and the DMK at the state level are the only parties that can bring peace and prosperity to the country. That is why I am confident that we will repeat our performance of 2004, despite having fewer number of parties as allies.