Disturbing Echoes

‘I told you so’, says Karunanidhi. ‘There was never any doubt’, says Moopanar. Same team, same spirit, cries Karunanidhi. Amen, says the TMC leader. ‘Moopanar and I will discuss’ claims a relieved DMK chief. ‘Karunanidhi is the leader and so he alone will decide’, avers a subdued Moopanar. And so went the duet yesterday, as the two leaders sung to a prearranged tune set by exigencies of poll prospects and their shared hatred and fear of a lady on the comeback trail. A hymn hailing Lord Muruga says if He laughs in Thiruppurankunram, the echo could be heard in Tiruttani. Somewhat on the same lines, for every note that emanated from the Anna Arivalayam, there was a louder echo from the Sathyamurthy Bhavan.

Curse the media. Mischief mongers that they are they have truly sinned by attempting, albeit in vain, to separate two lovelorn hearts. We now understand the TMC leader’s anguish as revealed by his silence, a language popularised by Raos and Sonias, at the rife of speculations doing the rounds all these days. Just media creations, says he now, of the more than three weeks of dithering, that puts even Hamlet to shame. But all along, the deliberations were just to fabricate a consensus to a decision already taken, a mock drill of the much-touted inner party democracy. No doubt it is time for us, the media, to have a rethink about its creation, the TMC.

It is ironical that such a slight on Moopanar’s ardent fans, the press, should come on the day the party opened a state-of-the-art media centre at its headquarters. The facilities provided, I hear, include computers, fax machines, et al. it is hoped that the party and its leader will also occasionally provide news so that these could be put to use, now that there will be a self-imposed ban on speculations on the part of the media.

Nothing can be farther from the truth as the DMK chief’s claim that the same spirit that prevailed in 1996 continues today. It is not even true in the light of the strains between him and Moopanar, ever since the former blocked the latter’s near successful bid for the PM post when Deve Gowda had to be dumped. The unmistakable shadow fighting between the allies, which on several occasions spilled over to the limelight cannot also be easily erased from public memory. Nor can the two leaders vouch for an overwhelming sense of camaraderie between the cadres of the two parties. Moopanar’s incurable commitment to Karunanidhi notwithstanding, the disenchantment of the TMC partymen that includes the second rung leaders and downwards, as acknowledged by Karunanidhi himself, is total. No amount of brain-washing is going to convince them of the wisdom of aligning again with the D. Neither will any amount of cajoling make them reconcile to the prospect of campaigning against Sonia Gandhi. There is no basis for Chidambaram’s fond hope that the wife of their martyred leader would spare them. It is pure kite-flying and will fool none, not surely Rajiv’s widow. For the Congress and its only star campaigner, at least in Tamilnadu, the only election issue is the DMK’s indictment by the Jain Commission, and there is no way it will let it pass, except at its own peril.

The TMC owes its stout to the fact that it is perceived by the people as the real Congress in the State. Its vote bank is the Congress vote bank. The DMK stands squarely indicted in creating the situation conducive for the assassination of ‘Congress president’ Rajiv Gandhi, who was not only the leader of Moopanar and Co, but represented a legacy of the family to which they claim to owe a personal loyalty and affinity. Will they be doing justice to Congress vote bank and the cadre who still nurture Rajiv’s memory in their heart, by aligning with the DMK?

Moopanar himself was a witness to the gory killing. Even assuming that he feels it is not right to place entire blame for the assassination at DMK’s doorstep, does he not experience, if not remorse, at least a pang, a nagging feeling in his conscience that Jain may be right after all? Can he say with conviction that the DMK’s overt patronage and its open hobnobbing with LTTE were also media creations? Will he bother to check with his eminent colleague through thick and thin, the articulate Finance Minister for real first indictment as early as 1990 which led to the dismissal of the DMK regime.

 The alliance could pass muster in 1996 because of the pervasive anti-establishment mood and the DMK wolf was able to get away under the sheep skin. But should it be allowed to happen again, even after the wolf has been exposed in its true colours?

Karunanidhi’s refrain that the duo would fight corruption and communalism is akin to the devil reciting the scriptures. Nation’s security and its integrity are greater concerns and the DMK’s track record does not entitle it to any trust on that count, given the party and its chief’s proven affinity to the LTTE. And talking of corruption, well, Sarkaria’s pronouncements could always be recalled. No certificate from Moopanar can alter the history.

The TMC’s specious logic that the AIADMK has to be contained is only an exercise in self-deception. The party has only ended up containing itself, and in the process has again sought to give life to an outfit which was a spentforce and never in the reckoning from the start. As of now, it appears to be beyond the TMC’s comprehension that it is difficult to grow an oak tree in a pot, which is what the DMK is.

email the writer at [email protected]