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DMK may dump TMC, join hands with PMK

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is ready to snap its electoral ties with the Tamil Maanila Congress, its ally of the past 19 months, and align with the Pattali Makkal Katchi which has been waiting in the wings precisely for this event to happen. Alternatively, the DMK may keep the TMC as an ally -- but, on its terms, possibly alongside the PMK.

DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi says his party executive and general council will meet soon to decide on the future of the TMC alliance. The message is clear -- if the electoral issue is the Jain Commission report, the DMK stands on a better wicket and can do without the TMC.

"We have a three-cornered contest in mind, or even a four-cornered one, if AIADMK chief Jayalalitha Jayaram decides to dump the Marumalarchi DMK whose leader V Gopalsamy is also tainted by his association with the LTTE. With a pan-Tamil party like the PMK on our side, we can romp home," says a DMK strategist.

The DMK leadership, he says, should thank the Congress for raising the Jain Commission bogey. "Even without it, a snap poll could not have been avoided. Whatever be the electoral issue at the national level, here at least in Tamil Nadu, it would have been a referendum on the 18-month-old DMK government. And our performance leaves much to be desired."

The Rajiv Gandhi assassination as an electoral issue, he says, has made things easier for the DMK. "For one thing, the Tamils have voted on the issue once before, in 1991, and it is not an electoral issue any more for us to fear about. For another, the Tamil masses have come to accept in the past years that every political party worth its name in the state had been wooing the LTTE in the days before Rajiv Gandhi learnt from its mistakes -- and that the DMK has done no wrong in the last six years, particularly after coming back to power."

This DMK leader says his party cadres are against the TMC and there is little that Karunanidhi can do to change it.

According to this leader, the real issue is not the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, but Tamil pride which has been wounded by the Jain Commission report. "Our cadres say the DMK is being made a scapegoat purely for perceived political gains by the Congress at the Centre. (TMC leader G K) Moopanar's image too has suffered badly because of his long and inexplicable silence on the Jain Commission report."

Under different circumstances, Moopanar could have moved one step closer to his goal of restoring 'Kamaraj rule' in the state, says this DMK leader. "His image and his party's principled stand on not aligning with the AIADMK would have helped. But he seems to have played into Karunanidhi's hands, and on that count, we stand to gain."

A DMK-PMK alliance, he feels, could sweep the northern districts, where both have their strongholds, though there may be some major problems of seat adjustments. However, no formal moves have been made in this regard, he claims, arguing that the DMK could consider continuance of the TMC alliance only if Moopanar convinces Karunanidhi about his true intentions.

Whatever the explanations issued by the leadership of the two parties, the sentiment at the cadre-level is one of mutual resentment bordering on animosity, according to leaders of both parties. "Our cadre's mind is made up and it is next to impossible for the leadership to change the course,'' says another DMK leader.

''In a cadre-based party like the DMK," he claimed, "it is very difficult for the leadership to take a decision without respecting their sentiments."

Similar sentiments are expressed by TMC leaders. As the Rajiv Gandhi assassination is at the heart of the controversy, it will be very difficult, both emotionally and electorally, for the TMC to identify itself with the DMK, one TMC official told Rediff On The NeT. As for the TMC 'ditching' the DMK in its hour of crisis, he referred to the DMK abandoning G K Moopanar in the prime ministerial race in April.

Other TMC sources claim that Moopanar has been silent on the Jain Commission report, only to try and work out a compromise that will help avoid a mid-term election. "The DMK-TMC alliance will crumble if Rajiv Gandhi is the electoral issue. You cannot work out a compromise formula if you have already sided with one of the warring parties," one TMC leader said.

Moopanar, this TMC leader said, still stands by his original strategy of siding with the DMK, at least until the AIADMK is politically eliminated. The alternative, according to him, is for the TMC to float a third front, but the ''prospect for this is not bright.''

DMK officials feels the TMC is out to get the best possible deal for itself in the swiftly changing situation. ''Alliance politics does not work this way and there should be some amount of honesty and sincerity which is lacking in the TMC leadership." The TMC leadership had not discussed its strategy even privately with the DMK, for the cadres to draw a different conclusion. ‘'They are keeping their options open," says one DMK leader.

Both parties are, however, unanimous that Moopanar will not fall for any bait that may be offered by Jayalalitha and her AIADMK. Moopanar flew to Madras for a few hours one night last week, but none is the wiser about the reasons for the visit.

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