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

Search Rediff

Jaya pushes Congress hard to rope in TMC

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

AIADMK chief Jayalalitha is pushing the Congress hard for roping in the Tamil Maanila Congress into their proposed poll alliance with the Left in Tamil Nadu.

But TMC founder G K Moopanar is still evasive, passing on the buck of decision-making to the cadres.

Jayalalitha wants to strike the iron when it is hot. She feels the Congress is yet to come out of the 'Pawar psyche', and may have a different view of the AIADMK, if things are allowed to drift. As if to force the Congress further towards an alliance, and also to force the TMC into the AIADMK fold, in one form or the other, Jayalalitha has invited applications for party ticket to all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

"We are not at anyone's mercy, and we want to convey that message, loud and clear," says an AIADMK leader. "It's the Congress and the TMC that may need our votes, and seats. Only those two parties are keen on making Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the prime minister, we have no such agenda, though under the circumstances, we are not averse to the idea."

Brave words these, as otherwise, it's the AIADMK that is keen on having the TMC with it, when the other one is shying away. Jayalalitha is also known to have considered a photo opportunity with Moopanar at a private function at Madras last week, but it did not come about for other reasons.

The AIADMK, Congress and the Left feel that together with the TMC, theirs would be a formidable combine, capable of winning more seats, against the ruling BJP-DMK National Democratic Alliance, with the MDMK and the PMK, too, in it.

The TMC leadership seems to hold other views, but Moopanar has not been able to convince Sonia Gandhi and CPM general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet at separate meetings in Delhi last week. The TMC feels that a third front, also involving the Congress and the Left, would be a better option in the long term, as no electoral gains are guaranteed even with the AIADMK in the fold. If anything, they are apprehensive about the 'damage potential' of the AIADMK.

Says a TMC leader : "We are not sure whether the electoral arithmetic in the state would work as well as the Congress and the Left would like. The Congress's 'stability card', its one-point poll agenda will get a severe beating, not only in Tamil Nadu, but even elsewhere in the country, if it goes around with the AIADMK. If Jayalalitha was seen as a personification of corrupt political practices in the 1996 elections, now she is also seen as the greatest 'destabilising force' in the country. Sonia Gandhi joining hands with Jayalalitha would also strengthen the BJP charge that both were together in destabilising the Vajpayee government."

Broadly-speaking, there is little difference between the TMC aligning with the AIADMK through the Congress, or merging with the Congress parent, for a similar tie-up. So, any decision on the TMC's support for the AIADMK would also imply a decision, now or later, to merge with the Congress. Having taken an anti-BJP stand at the national-level, the TMC leadership has now been handed down the 'fait accompli' of having to support the Congress, as well, that too the Nehru-Gandhi leadership of Sonia Gandhi.

Says a DMK leader, whose party snapped ties with the TMC to head the anti-AIADMK, BJP combine in the state: "The TMC leadership is torn between continued loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family, and its own political compulsions, which is basically anti-Jayalalitha, in nature. The party is fast losing its separate identity, which alone has a winning potential, with the leadership waiting on the Congress high command, on command."

The TMC leader interprets it differently : "We were always a part of the Congress, and do not have national ambitions. It's thus natural for us to back the Congress, but it is not so with the DMK joining hands with the BJP, using the AIADMK and Jayalalitha as an excuse."

However, he too concedes that the TMC has been soft on the Congress parent, whereas the AIADMK has already started applying pressure, by inviting applications for all 39 seats, "which they are supposed to share with the allies".

In this context, the TMC leader also refers to Jayalalitha's statement last week-end that no government could survive at the Centre without the AIADMK's say-so. "It only shows that she has not changed. The Congress should take its lessons from the BJP, rather than learning them, itself. So should the Left."

Moopanar is already holding discussions with his party leaders, on the AIADMK's suggestions, sent through the Congress. Indications are that the TMC's general council may be called to decide on the issue. An alternative is for trusted lieutenants of the leader fanning out into the districts, to gauge the cadre-mood. Or, both. It depends on the time, the leadership is willing to give itself before taking a decision.

Says the TMC leader: "Gauging the cadre-mood has become necessary, as conflicting reports are coming in, on the desirability of tying up with the AIADMK. There are 'vested interests' at all levels, and they may not be conveying the cadre sentiments, just as those of the unified Congress in the state failed the Narasimha Rao leadership in 1996." As he points out, even the 'merger rumours' of last year ended when Moopanar toured the districts, and asked the cadres whether they wanted the TMC to rejoin the Congress parent.

For his part, Moopanar has decided to toe the cadre-line, without influencing them, himself. Even then, any tie-up with the AIADMK will have its own 'consequences' on the TMC, its separate identity, internal unity, and electoral credibility, "which is why, we are so very badly needed by other anti-BJP parties. All these need to be considered, before we could take a final decision," adds the party leader.

Tell us what you think of this report