The Rediff Interview/G K Moopanar

'Let's hope the Congress will save itself from destruction'

G K Moopanar, who is being mentioned in Delhi's political circles as a likely candidate for the prime ministership, spoke to Shobha Warrier on Saturday before the Congress party withdrew its support to the United Front. Excerpts from an illuminating conversation with the Tamil Maanila Congress leader:

Was it not a painful decision to break away from the Congress with which you have been associated for several decades?

Yes, no doubt about that. It is not an easy task to forget and do something else after 45 years of association. But it became a necessity. Tamil Nadu Congressmen felt it was the correct thing to do and that was why we had to break away.

In your mind, you must be a Congressman even now, are you not?

Yes. I have been a Congressman for the last fifty years. How can I change now?

Would this have happened if someone from the Nehru family was at the helm of affairs? Was it not because Mr Rao was the Congress president that it happened?

They would have taken the right decision only. I am sure they would not have taken such a wrong decision, and this split would not have happened.

Suppose they had taken a decision like this....

The question does not arise at all because they would not have taken such a wrong decision. They knew how to respect the feelings of Congressmen and the party and would react accordingly. They would not have done this at all.

At the time, did you try to make Mr Rao understand the feelings of the partymen?

You know very well about it. For nearly one year I tried to make him understand. Not only me, many people went and told him. Even on that day also, many MPs and MLAs went and told him, still he took the decision. What can be done then?

How do you assess his tenure as prime minister, those five years in power?

I was with him then.

I know that, but how do you assess his tenure in office?

How can I say that he was wrong, and he did this and that? That is the usual routine of politicians, but I won't do that. I do not want to talk in that manner at all. He did his best.

After Mr Rao was made to quit, many Congressmen, all the breakaway factions, returned to the Congress, everyone except the TMC. Why didn't you think of going back?

That is not what the cadres of the party want. The public feeling is also against joining the Congress. I have to respect their feelings.

Is it because the TMC is in power that they do not want to return to the Congress?

Whether in power or not, they voted for the TMC. They supported the TMC. They supported the TMC's decision to break away and form a party. How can I forget all that and do something which is against their feelings? I can't do that.

Now that Mr Rao is not there ...

It is not a question of Rao alone. That period is over. That chapter is over. We are going through a different period. The cadres wanted elections and that is why I had to conduct elections. What does it mean?

That they want a separate party?

Yes. That is why they wanted party elections. Otherwise, they would not have asked for it.

Are they happy being a regional party?

Yes. That is the feeling, it seems.

How do you feel about it? You were one of the senior-most leaders of a national party, but now you are just the leader of a regional party. Is there any difference?

Yes, the difference is there. But what to do? We were forced to do something and we did. What to do now? That is why we adopted a new policy. Valamana Tamizhakam, Valimayana Bharatam, we say. That is, a prosperous Tamil Nadu and a strong India. That is our new motto.

Is it good for the country to have such strong regional parties? For example, at one of the party conventions, Finance Minister Chidambaram said the TMC will protect the interests of the Tamils wherever they are. Is it good for the country to have such a regional outlook?

If I take it to protect the interest of the Tamils alone, it is wrong. That is why I said, in our motto, we have combined both Tamil Nadu and India now. It is not regionalism alone. We think for the country, and we want the country also to be strong.

As a regional party, it is necessary to protect the interests of the region. Even as a national party, can they say, no, we will not protect your interests? They have to protect the interests of the Tamils, much more now, that's all.

Would that not lead to a situation where parties think of only one region and not the nation as a whole?

It is not one region alone that we are trying to develop. One region alone cannot develop separately and come up very well. It has to be a united effort. That's why we said, a prosperous Tamil Nadu and a strong India. Among the regional parties, this is the first time somebody has brought out a slogan of this sort.

G K Moopanar's photograph: Sanjay Ghosh

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