NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Chidambaram sulks Moopanar into a fret

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Differences within the Tamil Maanila Congress have come out into the open.

Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram is sulking at the TMC's decision to support the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the three by-elections on February 17. And chief whip R Chokkar has quit the House.

While Chokkar continues in the TMC thanks to his 'principled stand', Chidambaram hasn't made up his mind yet.

Informed sources said TMC founder G K Moopanar, for the first time since the party was launched on the election eve of 1996, called on Chidambaram at his Madras residence on Sunday. Chidambaram had been playing hide-and-seek since his return from a foreign trip a couple of days earlier.

Moopanar is believed to have explained the circumstances that forced him to back the AIADMK, and also his strategy to retrieve lost ground before the assembly election next year. Which indicates that he is all for the TMC going it alone then.

"The problem with leaders like Chidambaram is that they are there only when the fruits of office are for sharing. While in Opposition they have no role, no responsibility to the party. They go back to their businesses and court practices until the next time someone wins an election for the party. Then they claim what they think should be theirs, and theirs alone," says a senior party leader, who otherwise does not approve of the TMC backing the AIADMK.

"If Chidambaram was involved in decision-making instead of busying himself with foreign tours and legal assignments, he could have brought around the leadership with his convincing arguments, his very presence itself," says this leader. "I will not blame Moopanar for the decision. It was collectively-made."

According to this leader, Moopanar wanted the party to keep as much distance from the AIADMK as possible. When the mood of the cadres turned totally against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, particularly after the Lok Sabha poll, and the situation demanded that the TMC not contest the by-election on its own, the option was for the party to back the AIADMK.

Moopanar tried to avoid a formal alliance and a seat-sharing formula by delaying a decision, but that did not help, says this source.

"Till the last moment Moopanar tried to avoid any commitment. But allies like the Dalit Panthers, Janata Dal-S and the Indian Union Muslim League threatened to walk over to the AIADMK, and he was left with little choice," he explains.

"Anyway, leaders like Chidambaram and Chokkar have no right to complain," he adds. "Even after a specific request was made by the party in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha polls and Moopanar's illness, Chidambaram did not involve himself in day-to-day affairs. Instead, he stopped coming to the Satyamurthi Bhavan headquarters altogether."

Indications are that Chidambaram may stay away from the limelight for sometime before deciding. It may be influenced by the by-election results, as also the expected court verdicts in criminal cases involving AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha. With the BJP setting its sights at the 2006 assembly poll in the state, Chidambaram would want to keep his options open.

"He definitely can emerge as a darling of the middle class in the state, whatever be his acceptance-level by the average party cadre," says the TMC leader. "That was the role cut out for him in the TMC as well, particularly in the assembly election next year. But he doesn't seem to be cut out for hard work."

TMC leaders, however, rule out a formal split in the party. For one, none has been able to come out with an alternative that is electorally meaningful. Two, Chidambaram's legal wisdom itself had helped register the party as Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), with the Election Commisision -- so now there could be no formal split, with the name and title going to another group, if one emerged.

In this context, sources refer to individual compulsions also guiding certain leaders against the AIADMK. For instance, TMC treasurer D Sudarsanam is known to be close to the DMK leadership.

TMC general secretary K S Azhagiri is said to be fighting a cold war with Dalit Panthers leader R Thirumavalavan in their native South Arcot district. Thirumavalavan' threat to walk over to the AIADMK, and thus weaken the TMC front, is said to be behind Moopanar's decision now.

Moopanar and Jayalalitha are scheduled to appear on the same platform on February 2, when the AIADMK has a memorial meeting for its late leader V R Nedunchezhiyan. The schedule was fixed before the TMC decision on the by-election, but even then media speculation saw it only as a first step towards a formal tie-up.

Also, there is a proposal for the two leaders to campaign together for the by-election.

A section in the TMC now say that isolating Moopanar and identifying him wholly with the pro-AIADMK segment of the party would only push him into the hands of the AIADMK even further. This segment feels the 'anti-AIADMK' leaders should campaign within party forums forcefully to ensure a reversal of the decision.

A smaller section within the group, for its part, is toying with the idea of taking the party to the other extreme -- that is, to the BJP-DMK camp.

"If we can compromise with corruption, why not with communalism?" asks a leader. "After all, keeping the TMC electorally relevant has become the mantra of the leadership. Then why not join the club where the BJP and TMC together can swing the middle class votes so very completely?"

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report