The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Bang goes State Congress hope

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Bang goes State Congress hope

By V. Jayanth and S. Vydhianathan

By V. Jayanth and

S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI, FEB. 25 . What began with a bang on Thursday ended on a whimper today.

The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has disowned the statements and demands, which emanated from a Tamil Nadu unit meeting here yesterday, calling for a share in power for the party in a future coalition in the State.

The State unit, in an unplanned move, stepped up its campaign for floating a coalition after the next Assembly election. While advocating continuance of the Democratic Progressive Alliance, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Congress functionaries unequivocally demanded a coalition arrangement here on the pattern of the one at the Centre.

A majority of the participants at the meeting, convened by the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president, G.K. Vasan, sang the coalition tune for the party to bring back Kamaraj rule. "Share in power will be the first step towards the dream" was their burden.

Some participants in the closed-door meeting told The Hindu later that the mood among the workers was overwhelmingly in favour of the party asking for a share in power in the State. Its MPs, MLAs, and district presidents took the line that there was no point in their straining every nerve for others to enjoy power. Moreover, the current environment in the State was conducive to a change of government with a fair chance of the DPA repeating its Lok Sabha poll performance. The Congress should not miss the opportunity and should stake its claim to a due share in power.

Grouse against DMK

The Congress functionaries frowned at the huge advertisements in major newspapers carrying pictures of the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, and the names of the party's district secretaries for official functions of Union Ministries or public sector units. The DMK, they complained, was taking the entire credit for achievements of the United Progressive Alliance Government.

Speakers at Thursday's meeting wanted the State Congress to submit the coalition idea to the high command. However, they were all for continuation of the existing alliance for the Assembly election. The speakers were willing to strike, yet afraid to wound.

Asked whether the people would accept the idea of coalition, they said no doubt that the voters always favoured single-party rule in the State. But after seeing the successful functioning of coalitions in other States they would not be averse to the proposal.

Party seniors were upset that every other ally was focussing on improving its presence in the State and in the DPA, the Congress was "surrendering its base and votes to the DMK, without any returns."

Poetic warning

Though the DMK was yet to react openly to the State Congress proposal, it expressed its opposition through the party organ Murasoli. The president, M. Karunanidhi, in a poem, warned that any move to disturb the present strength of the alliance would only benefit the opposition and drove home his point through the age-old Tamil parable of four oxen and a lion. From the very beginning of the short debate, the DMK has rejected the coalition idea outright.

Congress sources said the DMK Ministers had taken up the issue with the AICC today "to nip our demand in the bud."

According to DMK sources, the party only wanted to know whether the coalition talk was a State-level wish or whether it had the "blessings of the high command." The AICC's clarification put the lid on the debate. The DMK was ready to pull out of the Union Ministry and support the alliance government from outside, if the Congress was serious about a coalition in Tamil Nadu, the sources insisted.

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