The Doctor’s dilemma has ended, finally. After days of dilly-dallying, the PMK has at last decided to go the ‘progressive’ way, the latest label for old wine in older bottles. And the medical doctor lost no time in calling on the literary doctor, his latest benefactor –or victim, depending on how the seat negotiations proceed. And the resourceful man that he is, Dr Ramadoss presented his leader with a shawl — you guessed it, an yellow one –and was reciprocated in red.
The bonhomie before the cameras now having been enacted, it would henceforth be brasstacks, behind the scenes. Of course, it is no secret that the Doctor is a tough customer but the wily old fox across the table is no pushover either. Though as of now there is no way of knowing what the Doctor’s prescriptions for poll pact are, one can assure onself that without a minimum guarantee, he would not have ventured into the DMK’s Temple of Intellect — Arivalayam, for that exchange of shawls.
Actually, the Hamlet drama that was on stage the last few days, with both warring parties wooing him endlessly, is a familiar ploy by him to pressure his would-be partner. This is something we witness at every election, with the PMK swinging like the pendulum from one extreme to the other, without qualms or remorse and keeping everyone guessing on which way it would go. And what ultimately clinches the deal is common knowledge for as we said earlier, the Doctor is a very resourceful man.
But apart from pendulum-politics, the PMK under Dr Ramadoss is also the pioneer of caste politics in the State. If caste outfits have sprouted all over the fertile political fields of TN over the last few years, the PMK can rightfully claim the credit for sowing the seeds first and reaping good harvests, come every poll time. The meticulously consolidated caste base of the party, spread over north TN, is an irresistible electoral attraction for the political majors.
Sure, doubts were raised even in those heady days, when the party used to frequently hit the highways with timber and boulders to press their reservation demands, about their real electoral strength because their arithmetic does not tally with official figures till date. But despite such lingering suspicions about Ramadoss’s claims on his own invincibility in his caste belt, the big parties are reluctant to call his bluff if only for his nuisance value, for the PMK can certainly play spoilsport to any candidate. And with no such inhibitions as ideology or morality pinning it down, the PMK?s migratory instincts and resultant mobility, as a flock, appear to be its best insurance for political relevance.
And the sordid saga does not end there. Every rabid idea and its extreme proponent could bank on the PMK’s unhesitating support and solidarity. Be it LTTE or Veerappan or the so-called Tamil nationalists, there is no secret about where the PMK’s sympathies lie. Barring the DMK, virtually every political outfit in the State has at one point or other, demanded a ban on the PMK, particularly for its open support to LTTE, whose supremo?s picture they carried in a procession.
But the PMK had almost always had the last laugh by aligning with those very same parties. It is a fallout of the distressing personality politics of TN where even Pak?s ISI would be deemed legitimate company to fell a local enemy! NDA’s loss may be Cong’s gain today. But the former need not lose heart nor can the latter celebrate. The doctor never closes the gates of his mango grove on any party, they are always left ajar. For even a cursory reading of Ramadoss?s statement makes it abundantly clear that he has no complaints about Vajpayee, something the Cong has to mull over before building secular castles in the air. Post polls, the Doctor may change his prescriptions once again.
In fact it would be wrong to say that the PMK has quit the NDA. It has just taken a short walk.
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