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DMK against petrol price hike

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, to which Petroleum Minister T R Baalu belongs, is against the Union finance ministry's plan to raise prices of petroleum products. But the party has no alternative plan to bridge the oil pool deficit. It is depending on the June 8 meeting of Left parties, who are also averse to the hike, to show it how prices can be kept down.

A resolution passed by the DMK general council, meeting in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, urged the Centre to reconsider the move as it would affect the common man adversely.

'The finance ministry should find alternative financial sources,' the resolution added nebulously, clearly placing the onus on Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who belongs to the Tamil Maanila Congress, the DMK's electoral ally. As is evident, despite the poll pact there is little love lost between the DMK and the TMC.

Though newspersons pressed Karunanidhi, he could not suggest how the shortfall could be dealt with other than by raising petroleum prices. He also admitted the party was waiting for the meeting of Left parties to come up with possible solutions.

The DMK general council also passed a resolution regarding the CRB group which reportedly defrauded banks and the public to the tune of Rs 10 billion. 'That the Reserve Bank of India, the United Trust of India and the Securities and Exchanges Board of India had not taken action to prevent such a fraud indicated the ineffective functioning of the controlling institutions,' the resolution stated, adding, 'It was also an example of rampant corruption at lower levels of the finance ministry.'

But Karunanidhi declined to state whether his party would seek the resignation of RBI Governor C Rangarajan. "The party has passed a resolution on the subject, and there is nothing more to it now," he said.

What is interesting in both resolutions is that the DMK chose to bring up subjects involving the finance ministry headed by Chidambaram, who has lately not missed any chance to criticise the DMK government from public platforms.

"The criticism has not been strong or virulent, but it is there," says a DMK source. "And it is our duty to draw the attention of the TMC leadership, to stop Chidambaram in his tracks."

In this context, he refers to Chidambaram's declaration at Kancheepuram last week that the state government had been slow to contain caste violence in the southern districts. "The DMK's friends should not mistake us or get angry with us if we point out the mistakes of their government," Chidambaram said, addressing a TMC meeting.

"They should treat us as the official Opposition party that we are in the state assembly, and not as an opponent," he added.

"The resolution on the CRB scam is only an indirect reply to Chidambaram's statement on caste violence," says the DMK source. "He sought to make out that the political higher-ups in the DMK should take the blame for the failure of the police and bureaucratic machinery at the lower levels. Karunanidhi has drawn out a distinction between the two in the 'CRB resolution', and left the rest unsaid."

The DMK also would not like to be blamed in the long run for the spiraling price rise that a petrol price hike now would entail. "That can affect our political chances very badly, and with a DMK leader at the helm of the petroleum ministry, there is little that we can say to convince the public. Hence, we are drawing a clear line that the decision is that of the finance ministry, and the petroleum ministry is only the enforcing authority."

The TMC is projecting Chidambaram as the leader of the future, putting him up against Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin. Naturally, the DMK is trying to embarrass it, even though, outwardly, the two parties remain allies. The TMC's promise to go it alone has also spurred Jayalalitha into attacking Chidambaram whenever she can.