Tamil Nadu   

Pondicherry PMK elated, disbelief in Congress

By S. Nadarajan

PONDICHERRY, JAN. 23. There was joy and celebration in the local unit of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), in sharp contrast to anguish and disbelief in the Congress camp, over the allocation of the Pondicherry Lok Sabha constituency to the PMK in the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA).

The convener of the PMK here, N.G. Panneerselvam, thanked the party founder, S. Ramadoss, for "clinching" the seat. He said the high command would finalise the candidate. In the last election in 1999, the Congress won the seat defeating the PMK nominee, M. Ramadoss — a professor of Economics here.

There was gloom in the Congress office. The sitting Member of Parliament, M.O.H. Farook, and the Pradesh Congress president, V. Narayanasamy, were both out of station. Congress legislators and functionaries chose to remain tight-lipped, at least for the record. One of the Ministers said Mr. Narayanasamy was expected to cut short his visit to Hyderabad and rush back here to review the situation. Party sources said that Mr. Farook, who was planning to visit New Delhi, would take up the issue with the high command and find a way to get over the crisis.

Initially, Congress functionaries here refused to believe that the Pondicherry seat had indeed been allotted to the PMK. "How can the Congress be denied this seat? We have held it all along and the sitting MP is from our party. We wonder if the Congress leadership was consulted on this matter. We will take it up seriously because this could demoralise our cadre and credibility in the Union Territory," argued a senior legislator.

Rival groups in the party had begun lobbying for the seat, taking it for granted that it would remain with the Congress. With the DMK's announcement today, hopes of the contenders were dashed, but their anger was also visible. The factions were now trying to unite to take up the cause with the party high command and somehow get the seat back for the Congress. They noted that this was a "sour note" to launch the new alliance with the DMK.

Our Chennai Special Correspondent reports:

Tamil Nadu Congress functionaries were also taken aback at the understanding reached between the DMK and the PMK. Without hiding their feelings, a former general secretary of the State unit said: "We have never been consulted on such crucial issues by the party high command. Not only Pondicherry, but other traditional seats such as Tindivanam and Chidambaram, not to mention Chengalpattu, have also been given away to the PMK. It is high time the AICC wakes up to the reality and involves us in this exercise. Otherwise, we will end up with the rejects and unwinnable seats."

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