The Hindu : DMK enjoying competitive attention from two rivals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 04, 2003

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Opinion - News Analysis

DMK enjoying competitive attention from two rivals

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI Dec. 3 . The same day (Tuesday) the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, came calling on the DMK chief in Chennai, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, visited the DMK parliamentary party office in New Delhi to pay homage to the late Union Minister, Murasoli Maran. This gesture is seen here as an indication of the competitive wooing by the national parties of the main Opposition in Tamil Nadu.

Even if Lok Sabha elections are still months away, the process of political realignments is expected to begin once the results of the just-concluded Assembly elections in the north are out on Thursday.

The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's call at a BJP parliamentary party meeting today asking the MPs to prepare for the Lok Sabha election has been taken note of here.

The DMK has initiated ``internal discussions'' on the possible alliance, though no final decision will be taken till the time of the elections. At Sunday's closed-door discussions, many of the district secretaries favoured a ``realignment'', according to party seniors, who, however, described the exercise as ``just a preliminary assessment''. The party functionaries have been asked to come up wit h a detailed review of the tie-up with the BJP and the potential for an alliance with the Congress, the Left and other secular parties.

Asked how the party would balance the scales between the Congress and the BJP in the run-up to the elections and about the current arrangement of remaining in the National Democratic Alliance and still joining hands with the Congress and Left parties in protests, a former DMK Minister said ``Both the parties understand our position. We are still with the NDA and our equations with the Prime Minister and the national leadership of the BJP are very cordial. We have severed ties with the State BJP. Being the main Opposition in Tamil Nadu, we have to either lead or join agitations against the anti-people policies of the AIADMK Government''.

He does not see ``any conflict'' in this DMK strategy in relation to the Central and State Governments. ``While being part of the NDA, we have not worked against the Centre and have supported the Government in Parliament and outside. It is only on the POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) issue that we had to clarify our position and stand up against its misuse by the State Government.''

Asked why both the BJP and the Congress were trying to woo the DMK, party functionaries say, ``we have been a dependable ally, always''. The DMK has no record of bringing down Governments. They feel that perhaps because of the anti-government feelings running high in Tamil Nadu, the BJP is trying to ensure that the DMK remains with the NDA, while the Congress wants to build a new, secular front.

Going by past electoral arithmetic, Opposition leaders say a DMK-Congress-Left alliance, along with some of the smaller parties, will be a formidable front, whereas the existing NDA formation in the State may not add up to the same, despite the personal popularity of the Prime Minister. While the MDMK may follow the DMK lead, it is too early for the PMK to make up its mind. The NDA constituents have maintained a warm and personal equation with Mr. Vajpayee and will find it difficult to tear themselves away from the BJP, if the need arises.

As for the AIADMK, party sources say their leader will take the decision ``at an appropriate time''. As Ms. Jayalalithaa has made Ms. Sonia Gandhi's leadership an issue, the Congress may find it difficult to work out a last-minute understanding the way the party did in the past. Ideally, the AIADMK will prefer a three-way split so that it can garner more seats, going it alone, and strike a deal in the post-election scenario.

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