Congress(I) terminates alliance with DMK, indirectly welcomes support of AIADMK

Under normal circumstances, the Tirupattur by-election scheduled for November 29 should have been a run of the mill by-election, of no great significance. Nothing hangs on its outcome: the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) controls 130 of the 234 seats in the state Assembly and is not endangered in any way.Nor are any great issues or personalities involved. But though all the major parties are trying to pretend otherwise, the election has served as a catalyst to speed up the re-alignment of political forces in the state.Soon after the election was announced the Congress(I) found itself in the happy position of being courted by both the state's major parties -the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the AIADMK. The reason for this sudden rush of suitors was fairly obvious. Though the Congress(I), by itself, is not a great force to be reckoned with, it still has pockets of support in Tamil Nadu and can tip the balance in an election. Besides this, both parties would like to have Mrs Gandhi behind them as they continue their vicious fratricidal battles.The Congress(I) is, of course, reveling in the situation and trying to extract the maximum possible mileage from it. It has already said that its candidate R.N. Arunagiri will be fighting the election without support from other parties thus effectively ending the alliance with the DMK.The Congress(I) has also sent indirect hints to the AIADMK saying that it would welcome the support "of all political parties and sections of people in Tamil Nadu".Good Showing: This statement by itself is a clear indication that the Congress(I) has terminated its alliance with the DMK. The Congress(I) had fought the 1980 Assembly in alliance with the DMK. In Tirupattur its candidate Valmiki (whose death necessitated the election) secured 34,000 of the 83,000 votes cast. S. Madhavan, a former DMK minister, who contested as an independent, came second with nearly 20,000 votes. The other parties fared indifferently in the constituency.Since then, however, things have changed. Mrs Gandhi's relationship with the DMK, never good at the best of times has deteriorated further. And though the alliance did well in Tirupattur it fared poorly elsewhere. Both parties blamed each other for the debacle and since then there has been hardly any consultation between them on major issues.Arunagiri: poised for victoryThe AIADMK was quick to sense that the Congress(I)-DMK alliance had soured. Eager to ingratiate himself with the Congress(I), Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) announced that his government would support controversial measures like the National Security Act, and the Essential Services Maintenance Act.Once MGR's intentions were clear the pro-AIADMK faction in the state Congress(I). led by the Party's state president M. P. Subramaniam and supported by Union ministers R. Venkataraman and R.V. Swaminathan, mounted a campaign for a break with the DMK.The stir in support of the Sri Lanka Tamils spearheaded by the DMK put further strain on the already crumbling alliance. The miserable failure of the agitation which revealed the DMK's impotence was probably the last straw. When asked in September whether the alliance would continue Mrs Gandhi laconically replied, "Ask the local leaders."Hidden Intentions: But all the parties are concerned with keeping up appearances. Though MGR has openly stated that 'No alliance is permanent', he also does not wish to be the first one to break with the seven-party alliance with which he fought the 1980 elections. To conceal his intentions he has announced that the AIADMK would follow the principle of 'except vacancies arising through the verdict of a court, in other cases the party which won the seat in the previous election should be supported and the vacancy filled by that party'.This principle mooted by the AIADMK is only a thin veil but it allows MGR to offer the Congress(I) his support. His true motives were further made clear when he later said that whether or not the AIADMK would support the Congress(I) would depend 'on the need, situation and their request'. MGR is said to have backed his promise of support with a threat-if the Congress (I) does not accept an alliance with his party, he would support Madhavan who came in second in the last Tirupattur election even as an independent.There is, however, a strong faction in the Congress(I), led by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Karuppiah Moopanar, which is vehemently against ditching the DMK. This group argues that the Congress(I) cannot afford to ignore the support in Delhi of 20 DMK MPs. Nor can it justify the policies of the AIADMK. The other faction in the party, however, argues that the DMK has gained more from the alliance than has the Congress(I).Hectic parleying has been going on these past few months as all the parties slip this way and that, and manoeuvre about. MGR airdashed to Delhi to negotiate with Mrs Gandhi. Earlier Union Minister of State for Home, Yogendra Makwana had negotiated with MGR.Mrs Gandhi is playing a devious game setting one party against the other. She has very little to lose because her own party is still not strong enough to win an election by itself.But the DMK is said to be so sore with Mrs Gandhi that it would even sabotage the Congress(I) even if it joins together in an alliance. But this is unlikely; at the moment there is no denying that Mrs Gandhi holds all the cards.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 25, 2013 15:56 IST--- ENDS ---

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Congress(I) terminates alliance with DMK, indirectly welcomes support of AIADMK

Under normal circumstances, the Tirupattur by-election scheduled for November 29 should have been a run of the mill by-election, of no great significance.

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