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N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras
In a significant development, senior Tamil Maanila Congress leaders, S Balakrishnan and S R Balasubramanian, called on All India Anna DMK chief, Jayalalitha, in her Poes Garden residence on Monday afternoon.
Coming as it did only minutes after the new-found ally, Pattali Makkal Katchi, had struck seat-sharing deal with the AIADMK, the meeting assumes significance in the light of the TMC's prolonged delay in striking a deal with the AIADMK, unsatisfied as the party was with the seats offered, particularly to the Congress parent.
Incidentally, this is the first time that the TMC has established direct, formal contacts with the AIADMK at the highest-level, after the preliminary talks involving Balasubramanian and AIADMK member of Parliament, O S Manian. Most of the subsequent discussions had been held through intermediaries, including Dravidar Kazhagam general secretary, K Veeramani, and journalist, Cho S Ramaswamy.
Otherwise, Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, had despatched two emissaries, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who returned empty-handed after their talks with Jayalalitha, thus leading to the possibilities of a Third Front in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
"It was only a courtesy call," Balasubramanian said after meeting Jayalalitha. "We will brief Moopanar on the discussions, " he said, without elaborating.
Monday's talks were preceded by Veeramani calling on TMC founder G K Moopanar in the morning. "I have impressed upon Moopanar, the need for not floating a Third Front," Veeramani told newsmen later. Moopanar also received New Justice Party president, A C Shanmugam, and Makkal Tamil Desam leader, S Kannappan, two votaries of the Third Front.
Simultaneously, Jayalalitha also launched a broadside at the Congress-TMC combine, by opening talks with other intended allies. On the top of the list was PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, who returned satisfied after signing the deal with Jayalalitha. "We have been allotted 27 seats in Tamil Nadu and 10 in Pondicherry," he told waiting newsmen outside Jayalalitha's residence. "Jayalalitha will announce the constituencies allotted to the PMK," Ramadoss added.
Interestingly, the PMK and the AIADMK have decided on sharing power in the Union Territory by rotation, if the combine won the polls. While the AIADMK would lead the combine for the first two-and-half years, the PMK would get the second half of the five-year term of the assembly and government.
The PMK's 10 seats in Pondicherry is as significant as the party's 27 seats in Tamil Nadu. The latter also makes it clear that Jayalalitha has pushed herself wantonly into a situation where the AIADMK may not have as many seats for the Congress and the TMC in Tamil Nadu, nor those demanded by the Congress in Pondicherry -- 60 for the two in the former, and 18 in the Union Territory, if only to stall the 'pro-LTTE' PMK's ascending to power in the coastal region.
"We have waited enough," says an AIADMK leader. "Now it is for the TMC and the Congress to decide." However, the Congress and TMC leaders are cross that the AIADMK has ignored their 'just and legitimate concerns', both over the PMK's inclusion and also the seats now allotted to it. "This makes it amply clear that the AIADMK is not keen on addressing our concerns and demands, and would rather have us out," says a TMC leader adding, "We have now left it to Moopanar, who will decide on our next course, after consulting Sonia Gandhi."
At the same time, Jayalalitha also received leaders of the two communist parties, who have demanded 25 seats for the CPI and 15 for the CPM. While AIADMK sources say the claims are not justified by the situation on the ground, a decision will be based on the possibility, or otherwise, of the Congress and TMC joining the combine. Should the two stay away, there would be more seats for the AIADMK to give away to the two communists, whom it could not afford to lose out to a possible Third Front.
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