Chennai:
It happens only in India. A politician accused in one of the country's biggest corruption scandals in post independent history, gets a rousing welcome on his release on bail and arrival in his home state. The scale of the celebration perhaps much more than even what a Vishwanathan Anand got after winning his fifth world chess title! Is this part of the Dravidian larger-than-life political culture or quite simply a matter of political expediency?
Andimuthu Raja, who waited for every other accused person in the 2G case to leave Tihar jail, before applying for bail, is an important player in the DMK.
As a prime accused, observers believe that the party boss does need to keep him in good humour to obviate any adverse legal backlash for his daughter Kanimozhi, a co-accused in the same case.
Raja belongs to the powerful Dalit community; which commands more than 15% of the vote share in Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi initially kept harping on the caste factor when the scam first came to light, suggesting that Raja was targeted because of a caste bias.
Raja has always been a blue-eyed boy of the DMK patriarch. For many years, he quite literally lent a shoulder to Karunanidhi to move along!