Does Stalin believe Modi-bashing is his route to a national role?

MK Stalin has made many dramatic changes to the way the DMK operates  But if his current actions are a sign, it would seem he hopes to have a role on the national stage

It would seem, going by his current actions, that DMK leader MK Stalin is nurturing some national ambitions. 

Sources say he is in constant touch with Opposition leaders from almost all political parties in North India. Reportedly, for example, he often has telephonic conversations with SP's Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference's Omar Abdullah, the sons of RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav and the brother of Trinamool's Mayawati.

Another sign confirming such ambitions is the massive rally Stalin has organised in Chennai on 3 June. He has invited senior leaders of the Opposition at the national level, ostensibly to celebrate M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday.

So why is Stalin posing as a national anti-BJP or anti-Modi face?

Stalin has taken a stand to go totally negative against Narendra Modi as a person and the BJP party in general. Sources say he believes this will consolidate for the DMK the 15-20 percent of minority Muslim and Christian voters in Tamil Nadu.  

Insiders in the DMK, who have been neglected by Stalin, speculate that perhaps it was Rahul Gandhi himself who has suggested such strategies to Stalin. 

Since this meeting, which happened in February, Stalin seems to have stopped criticising the imposition of Hindi as aggressively as earlier. Earlier Stalin used to issue almost daily statements against Hindi. This indicates that perhaps Stalin is hoping to dabble with Hindi-speaking North Indian politicians. 

New plans for a new age: 

So why is Stalin looking for reinvention? Tamil Nadu's politics are currently in a mess, and the DMK is no different. Stalin's unending internal family squabble with Kanimozhi, his brother MK Alagiri and Rajathi Ammal (stepmother) have all presented a bad scenario for him - Will they all join together to squeeze him out of the DMK?

In the past one year, Stalin has brought a tremendous amount of changes in the DMK organisation and the core approaches of the DMK towards the administration. Insiders say that Stalin's son-in-law Sabareesan has taken full control of the DMK and has very different plans for the party. Taking a leaf from PM Modi's 2014 campaign - full of songs and catchy slogans, Sabareesan has engaged PR companies to make videos, promotions on Twitter and Facebook campaigns.

All of this also seems to indicate ambitions larger than Tamil Nadu, where the good old techniques of freebies are still strong.

While all of this is well and fine, the future of this Rahul-Stalin friendship does not seem to be strong. Any amount of Modi bashing by these two leaders will not bring about a comprehensive or cohesive alliance between the DMK and the Congress.

Will MK Stalin tolerate the inevitable domination of the UPA by the Hindi-speaking lot? Time will tell.