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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai.
By deciding to boycott the Cauvery River Water Authority, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and following it up with a strong letter to Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on the 'Vaiko issue', Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has signalled the end of her honeymoon with the BJP.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief is said to be upset over Vajpayee's callous approach to her suggestion for the Centre to notify the 'enforcement clause' on the Cauvery water dispute.
According to informed sources, Jayalalithaa made the suggestion when she called on the prime minister last month.
Vajpayee, it is said, welcomed the suggestion, but added that he would have no problem notifying the same if the Karnataka government too had no objections.
If Jayalalithaa felt slighted on the administrative front, on the political front, she is said to be upset over Advani not acting on her personal request to interfere in the 'Lexus car' affair, involving one-time aide Natarajan, husband of her live-in confidante, Sasikala.
The Enforcement Directorate has gone ahead and filed a criminal case in the matter, overlooking Natarajan's claims that the FERA violations in the car purchase had been declared under the voluntary disclosure scheme, Samaadan.
The AIADMK sees the hand of the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the matter, so also that of Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, what with both parties sharing power with the BJP at the Centre. With MDMK leader 'Ginjee' Ramachandran continuing as Minister of State for Finance, under which the Enforcement Directorate comes, the AIADMK leadership felt upset after this week's reshuffle of the Union Cabinet.
The Directorate argues that voluntary disclosure schemes, by their very definition, would not apply to corruption cases involving 'public servants' or those believed to be close to them.
The AIADMK leadership has concluded that the Centre and the BJP were acting coy only until the presidential elections were over. With the Congress supporting the BJP-NDA nominee, A P J Abdul Kalam, there is now no need for the BJP to fall back on the likes of AIADMK, or even the Telugu Desam Party ruling the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
A clearer picture will emerge only during the run-up to the vice-presidential election. That way, the AIADMK strategy now seems to be forcing the BJP's hands on political and administrative issues, should its support become crucial for the NDA all over again. A lot will also depend on the Congress strategy for the vice-presidential polls.
It is in this context, the AIADMK has been soft-pedalling criticism of the Congress. Though Sonia Gandhi had said, "Tamil Nadu needs to be saved from Dravidian misrule," the AIADMK has not reacted to it.
The AIADMK has also not gone all out in its criticism of state Congress president E V K S Elangovan for leading a party team to Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, seeking Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu.
In the past, the AIADMK had not spared Elangovan, and Jayalalithaa publicly demanded his replacement.
An added irritant for the AIADMK is the elevation of 'DMK-friendly' Venkaiah Naidu as BJP president. On his maiden visit to Chennai just a day after assuming office in Delhi, Naidu promptly declared that the DMK continued to be the BJP's main ally in Tamil Nadu.
His declaration came at a time when the AIADMK was silently moving the BJP for induction into the NDA, and was siding with the BJP on all major national issues, starting with the POT Bill vote in Parliament and the Gujarat issue.
Naidu's message was clear. For its own reason, the BJP favoured the DMK as an ally, and would enjoy having the AIADMK's additional support, if it could be done, but not at the cost of the DMK.
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