THE All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance appears to have lost some of its strength following the swift exit of one of its constituents, the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI).
The DPI stunned the AIADMK by switching its allegiance to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). When AIADMK workers, on instruction from the party high command, started filing nominations to the seats earmarked for DPI candidates, the DPI leadership saw in the move a game plan to "strand" and isolate the party and "detrain" it from the alliance after the elections.
"Our political survival would have been at stake after the elections. We would have belonged neither to the AIADMK alliance nor to the DMK-led alliance [the Democratic Progressive Alliance]. We should belong to some alliance. So we threw in our lot with the DMK," said D. Ravikumar, a DPI legislator.
The villain of the piece is the two interviews given to Sun TV, a Tamil television channel, by Perambalur and Cuddalore districts' office-bearers of the DPI complaining that the seats allotted to their party in their respective districts were inadequate. They threatened to go it alone if more seat were not allotted. This offended the AIADMK, and its high command instructed party candidates to file nominations in the wards allotted to the DPI. AIADMK leaders showed the door to the DPI men when the latter wanted to discuss seat-sharing with them.
Party general secretary Jayalalithaa and party leaders O. Panneerselvam and K.A. Sengottiayan became inaccessible to DPI leaders such as Ravikumar and even the party chief Thol. Thirumalavan. Although the DPI had sought 5.31 per cent of the seats, it accepted the offer of 4 per cent. Soon afterwards, the DPI received feelers from the DMK. Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi spoke to Ravikumar who requested Karunanidhi to accommodate the party in the DMK-led DPA.
Although the DPA has an impressive line-up of constituents, it does not present a picture of health. Inter-party and intra-party feuds have erupted in the alliance.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president M. Krishnasamy and senior leader and Member of the Legislative Assembly D. Sudarsanam were engaged in an open battle. The Congress made a spectacle of itself when party men who were denied seats went on a fast or offered a dharna at the party headquarters in Chennai.
Congressmen clashed in Nagercoil, Salem and several other places. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which is eyeing the mayorship of Salem Municipal Corporation, is unhappy because the DMK is not willing to concede the PMK's demand.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) declined to accept the measly offer of two wards in the Chennai Municipal Corporation, which has 155 wards. The CPI(M) has fielded its candidates in eight wards. "The DMK offered two seats because it did not want to be seen as not offering any seats to us," said T.K. Rengarajan, CPI(M) Central Committee member. The Vellore unit of the DMK also "acted stiff" with the CPI(M) declining to give it an adequate number of seats. Rengarajan was, however, confident that "everything will ultimately end smoothly".
The Communist Party of India is contesting alone in Madurai and Cuddalore districts because "local adjustments could not be reached" with the DMK.
T.S. Subramanian
