COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA
ARCHIVES

The Rediff Interview/L Ganesan

'Law and order situation has changed for the better since Coimbatore blasts'

After winning three Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu for the first time in the recent general election, the Bharatiya Janata Party's state headquarters at Madras is a hub of activity. If the cadres that throng the place are jubilant and confident, there are also the usual favour-seekers, but most of them are from the lower rungs of society, needing some legitimate demand attended to. So voluminous has been the plaints, and so careful is the state unit about not letting tainted people and papers pass through, it has since formed a core committee of sorts to screen the memos, and then forward them to the concerned officials or ministers.

State BJP general secretary L Ganesan, a bachelor who came to the party through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, takes time off a hectic schedule to talk to N Sathiya Moorthy about the evolving political situation in the state, and the BJP's future plans in Tamil Nadu.

Now that the BJP has gained a toe-hold in the state, what are your future plans?

It's more than a toe-hold, and from here we are confident of expanding our base mass-base and acceptability in double-quick time. We have already started our membership drive, and the response from all regions and sections has been positive.

What's your goal?

The BJP will be part of the next government in Tamil Nadu. We have left our election victory behind us, and are working hard to strengthen the party and improve its electoral presence further. I am also planning a three-year programme for the purpose.

But there seems to be some heartburn with the AIADMK...

That's inevitable. Ours is not an ideology-oriented coalition, and none of us have tried to hide it from the public. We went to the people promising a stable government at the Centre when the nation badly needed it.

But the AIADMK looks like pulling out of the government and the coalition every passing moment...

I don't think so. There is a basic difference between our coalition and the United Front, when it was ruling at the Centre. There the two major underwriters, namely the Congress and the Communists, were supporting a minority government from the outside. Here we are in a majority, and all our partners have been accommodated. We have 180 MPs, and the next largest partner, the AIADMK, has only 18 MPs. Others have even fewer MPs, and this by itself, I hope, will ensure the stability of the government in the long run.

How long?

Five years. After all, all of us went to the people promising to run a stable government for five full years, or for the full term of this Lok Sabha. And the people will remember this, even if we tend to forget the promise.

Jayalalitha has been saying that it was her charisma and campaigning that helped the BJP combine win the election in the state...

No one can deny her contribution to the combined election efforts. It was her tantra of forming a formidable alliance of the AIADMK, BJP, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Pattali Makkal Katchi that paved the way for our electoral victory. The BJP's mantra of stable government and able prime minister went well with the masses here as it did elsewhere in the country. And the cadres of all our parties provided the yantra to convert this mantra and tantra into sure victory.

There have been persistent demands from the AIADMK for dismissing the state government and holding a fresh assembly poll...

The BJP has itself been a victim of Article 356, and both Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Home Minister L K Advani, have assured the nation against any misuse of the provision, either in the case of Tamil Nadu or otherwise.

But the state BJP itself seems divided on the issue. Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, for instance, demanded the dismissal of the state government during his first visit to the state after assuming charge as Union energy minister.

He has since clarified his statement, and the state BJP executive, meeting in Tiruchi last fortnight, passed a resolution on the lines adopted by our national leadership.

What about the national agenda? There seems to be some intractable issues like the Cauvery water dispute affecting the interests of Tamil Nadu...

I am all for the constitution of an independent Constitutional authority on the lines of the Election Commission for solving such vexatious issues likes the Cauvery water dispute and reservations, which also involves Tamil Nadu's interests. The national agenda has promised a national water policy, and constitutional amendments to empower the states to decide their respective reservations quotas. Pending that, court verdicts have to be obeyed.

But already there are charges of the Centre packing the long list of central government standing counsel in Tamil Nadu with AIADMK-sympathetic lawyers..

I feel the change of lawyers by itself cannot affect the course of the cases pending against Jayalalitha or any of her aides. Anyway, we are in an era of 'judicial activism.' And the courts have demonstrated more than once in recent times that they have an independent and just mind of their own.

Jayalalitha has also referred to the continuance of some 'tainted' ministers at the Centre even after her asking Sedapatti R Muthiah to quit the government in a similar situation ...

She has said the AIADMK has set a healthy precedent in the matter. We have to welcome it, and it is for the prime minister to act. Where is the question of differences between the BJP and the AIADMK here?

But there doesn't seem to be any coordination among your coalition partners in the state since the election. For instance, you held a demonstration recently, asking the DMK government to govern or resign, while other partners did not participate in it...

There are some communication problems, and we intend asking Jayalalitha as the major partner in the state to evolve a coordination mechanism.

But why this BJP-sponsored demonstration in the first place?

We feel the state government needs to do a lot more to curb Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in the state, though that by itself may not be cause for the dismissal.

Does it mean that the DMK government has failed on the law and order front?

There was failure on the law and order front in the days preceding the Coimbatore blasts, but the situation has changed for the better since. A lot more needs to be done, and the Centre will not be found wanting in helping the state government. Only that we want an adequate response from the state government, which should know its responsibilities to the nation and the people.

The Rediff Interviews