Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Going the extra mile to keep an ally in good humour

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI Sept. 9. Whenever a fissure appears in the DMK's equations with the BJP and in the smooth functioning of National Democratic Alliance partners, at least at the national level, the BJP leadership seems ready to go the extra mile to iron out the differences.

Last week, the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, almost issued an ultimatum to the Centre on withdrawal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. If the Centre did not oblige, it would have to "face the consequences", he warned.

Now, within two days of the ailing Union Minister, Murasoli Maran, being brought back from Houston, United States, and readmitted to the Apollo Hospitals here, the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, went there to enquire about his health. What is more, the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will also call on Mr. Maran during his visit to Chennai on Saturday (to participate in the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Hindu). A meeting between Mr. Karunanidhi and Mr. Vajpayee is very much on the cards. And this will take place when the Chief Minister and AIADMK leader, Jayalalithaa, is out of town and will not meet the visiting Prime Minister.

Sources in the BJP here said their party had "never rubbed the DMK up the wrong way" and that it had gone out of the way on many occasions to keep the ally in "good humour". It was quite another matter, they said, that relations between the DMK and the State unit had broken down, almost completely. However, despite the pressures from the Tamil Nadu unit, the national leadership insisted on maintaining "normal and cordial relations" with its leading ally in the State.

The understanding in the BJP here is that the party leadership does not want to send out any of its NDA allies or partners, that too when parliamentary elections are approaching. "Our leaders want to ensure that the NDA is in tact for the full five-year term and ready to face the next election as a united front", a senior leader explained.

Respect for Vajpayee

Sources in the DMK also had no hesitation expressing their warmth for and solidarity with the Prime Minister. A former DMK Minister said: "Even when we have differences with the BJP, we have never hurt the coalition dharma or spoken out of turn. We have behaved like a responsible member of a coalition. Our leader has made it clear, time and again, that we hold Mr. Vajpayee in the highest esteem and our relations with the national leadership of the BJP have never been affected by the local developments".

Still, the DMK nurses a few grievances. There is a feeling that the Centre ``did not do enough" to rein in the AIADMK regime, when it resorted to "political vendetta". Especially during the arrest of Mr. Karunanidhi and last year when the MDMK leader, Vaiko, was detained under the POTA, the Centre could have done more, feels the DMK. Even now, it is leading an agitation demanding the release of Mr. Vaiko and the scrapping of the POTA. That will continue.

But the DMK is not blind to the Prime Minister's gestures and values his personal equations with both Mr. Karunanidhi and Mr. Maran. Sources say it is Mr. Vajpayee and his trust in the DMK that have effectively prevented a parting of ways. Moreover, the DMK does not want to be seen, at any stage, as an "untrustworthy ally" and wants to be counted as a "reliable partner"— now and in the future. When it comes to the next election and possible alliances, the executive and general councils will discuss all options and take the "right decision at the right time", the former Minister explained.

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