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DMK will 'weigh pros and cons' before deciding strategy

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi today said he would work out the DMK's strategy, in the wake of the All India Anna DMK withdrawing support to the Vajpayee government, in consultation with party general secretary K Anbazhagan as authorised by the party executive.

Jayalalitha's withdrawal of support "was expected", he said when newsmen sought his reaction.

Asked whether he would be going to New Delhi in the wake of the political developments, he said, "Maran had left for New Delhi this morning, I will not be going".

"I don't know," he replied when asked whether the BJP-led government would survive.

To a question if DMK MPs would abstain from voting in the event of a no-confidence motion against the Vajpayee government, Karunanidhi said, "We will weigh the pros and cons of the situation thoroughly and arrive at a decision and let our MPs know."

Agreeing that he was always for a stable government and had always held Vajpayee in high esteem, Karunanidhi said there could not be a stable government at the Centre with the support of people like Jayalalitha.

"She had wanted to have her say in the government only to get the democratically elected DMK government dismissed and to save herself from the corruption cases against her," Karunanidhi alleged. "It was neither to provide a stable government nor in the interest of the country," he added.

Meanwhile, the DMK's executive, which met on Tuesday, resolved that Jayalalitha "is our main enemy... and was among the main causes for the non-performance of the Vajpayee government".

The emergency meeting assumes significance in the light of the evolving political developments in Delhi, where the AIADMK is being talked about as a partner in any anti-BJP coalition.

"Jayalalitha has been raising fresh issues each passing day, against the Vajpayee government only to get the 'foreign exchange case' and the like against her withdrawn by the Centre...She has targeted the blemishless DMK state government as her one and only plank... to avoid the pending cases against her. As such she is our greatest enemy," the resolution, passed unanimously after three-hour long deliberations, said.

The meeting also authorised party president and state Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and the general secretary, K Anbazhagan to take necessary steps and decisions in this regard. Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Karunanidhi would not be drawn into saying anything beyond what the resolution had said. In particular, he was ambiguous still about the party supporting, or opposing, the Vajpayee government, if it came to a vote in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier in the day, Karunanidhi had discussions with the TMC ally G K Moopanar at the chief minister's residence. This was preceded by senior DMK leader Murasoli Maran calling on Moopanar. Both Karunanidhi and Moopanar said they had discussed the political developments, and were together in their Monday's decision, to oppose the BJP and the AIADMK alike. Moopanar is also leaving for Delhi on Wednesday.

Both DMK and TMC leaders say the situation is still confusing for anyone to take any decision, but feel that the nation was inching towards a snap polls to the Lok Sabha. They are heartened by the Left's decision not to back an alternative government with the AIADMK in it, and referred to Tuesday's announcement by West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu in this regard.

Locally, state CPM leader Sankaraiah too said as much, to a private television channel.

For the record, however, the DMK executive felt the need to remind the Left about the latter's approach to corruption cases. "The Left denied Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, a berth in the United Front government as his name had been mentioned in the 'Jain hawala case'. The Left was also against the RJD continuing in the United Front after Laloo Prasad Yadav was charged in the fodder scam case in Bihar," the resolution said, and referred to the pending corruption cases against Jayalalitha, in this context.

Senior leaders in both the DMK and the TMC see no reason now for the Left to go back on not siding with the AIADMK ministry-making. "If the Left is opposed to it, even the Congress cannot accommodate Jayalalitha," says a DMK leader, adding, "After all, the communists know that the nation is heading for snap polls, and they cannot afford to lose a trusted ally like the DMK."

Indications are that the Congress is lying low only for the AIADMK to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government, before moving on to the centrestage, but on its own terms. "There is no way anyone can stop President K R Narayanan from inviting the Congress to try form a government if the Vajpayee government bowed out in the end, with or without a vote in the Lok Sabha. Maybe then, Sonia Gandhi would go ahead and form a Congress exclusive government, letting the anti-B JP parties to choose their course -- whether or not to support the alternative at the Centre."

This, according to an informed source, implied imminent polls to the Lok Sabha, as the Congress knows that it cannot run a government, with or without Left support, for too long. The BJP has already burnt its fingers, if not the boat, completely. "With the result, the ongoing shadow-boxing between the BJP and the Congress seems centred on who should run the caretaker government during the elections," says the source.

It's this possibility that seems to be behind Jayalalitha's calculations in not withdrawing support to the Vajpayee government, as yet. "The situation is still pregnant with possibilities, why, even the BJP and the AIADMK can come to a not-so-honourable settlement, if the Congress does not offer a decent deal to Jayalalitha," says the source. While the DMK feels the AIADMK is a worse enemy than the BJP, for the TMC, both are equally bad, but with the AIADMK's sins getting washed, if not purified, in the Congress's company.

M Sathiya Moorthy in Madras and UNI

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