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N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras
As expected, senior TMC leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram has fired the first salvo at the party leadership, condemning the poll pact signed with the AIADMK, and appealing to the party leadership for a review of the decision.
Addressing party cadres and voters over the head of the leadership -- "as an architect of the TMC, I owe it to them" - Chidambaram declared that AIADMK leader Jayalalitha cannot provide a "good government" -- an obvious reference to Moopanar's public claims while announcing the alliance to newsmen on Saturday.
"Good governance involves three criteria: Who is the leader? What are the participant-parties? And what is their common programme?" Chidambaram said in a statement. According to him, neither does Jayalalitha fit in the bill, nor has the alliance met with his conditions.
As is known, even while expressing serious reservations about the emerging alliance with the AIADMK, Chidambaram, through public statements, had hinted at a possible coalition, where the TMC could rein in the ally -- DMK, or the AIADMK -- if it did not want to lead a Third Front.
Observing that he had learnt about the alliance from newspaper reports, Chidambaram stoutly denied that he had been consulted in this regard. "I had made my reservations and conditionalities for alliance public, through statements," he said, again in an obvious rebuttal of Moopanar's claims that "every senior leader in the party was consulted before the alliance was finalised".
"When founded, the TMC provided the 'connectivity' between the leadership and the cadres," Chidambaram said, referring to the split in the unified Congress that caused the birth of the infant party on the very eve of the 1996 elections. "Today, there is no connectivity between the leadership and the cadres."
While firing his first salvo at the TMC leadership, Chidambaram is said to be unsure of his next step. Rumours had it that he was seeking to join the BJP, but senior party leaders say "we have not been contacted". Torn between his political compulsions and personal regard for Moopanar, Chidambaram, it is said, may lie low until after the assembly polls before taking a final decision.
Camping in New Delhi since his last meeting with Moopanar in Madras a few days ahead of the AIADMK pact, Chidambaram is said to be evaluating the reaction to his public statement. While the TMC statement, if anything, is expected to reflect the leadership's justification of the pact in one form or the other, Chidambaram may be looking for individual leaders like him who are upset with the poll pact, but would be awaiting a lead.
"But there is little that anyone can do at this late hour," says a dissident TMC leader, who is hesitant to come out in the open. "Our high personal regard for Moopanar does not permit us to come out in the open, particularly when he is not keeping the best of health."
Critics of the poll pact blame it on a 'coterie surrounding' Moopanar, without actually targeting him. They are also shy away from coming out in the open "because of sentiments", but say, at least two journalists, including the editor of an English newspaper, should share the blame for the 'sell-out', "along with the former Union ministers, Jayanthi Natarajan, and S R Balasubramanian, and also Dravida Kazhagam general secretary K Veeramani."
Indications are that Chidambaram may wait a while before making his next move. There are also serious doubts within the Chidambaram camp, and of other dissidents within the TMC, about the effectiveness of a breakaway party at this late hour.
"Maybe we will still be welcome in the DMK-led alliance, but for that we have to take an early decision," says the TMC leader. "However, no one seems to be in any great hurry. Nor do we have any clue about what shape things could take, or who all will be in it."
As the architect of the TMC when founded, it was Chidambaram who officially named the party as 'Tamil Maanila Congress-Moopanar'. That is the name under which the party is known in the records of the Election Commission. Any split in the party now, at present, thus would have to look for a new name.
'Tamizhaga Thanmaana Congress' is one such name being floated around by interested groups not necessarily belonging to the TMC. Translated into English, it means 'Tamils' Self-Respect Congress', an obvious take-off from the 'Tamils atma-gouravam' card that Moopanar himself had flaunted while parting company with the Congress parent, for the latter's continued support to the Jayalalitha leadership of the AIADMK in the 1996 polls.
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