The Congress lost power in the state in 1967. Since then the state has under Dravidian rule either with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) or its break-away All India Anna Dravida Kazhagam (AIDMK) floated by M G Ramchandran, the erstwhile heart-throb of millions of people of the state.
Both parties bend forward to support whichever government is at the Centre. A senior Congress leader said “the Party is defunct” in the State. Nevertheless, people’s love affair with the Nehru-Gandhi family continues even till date. It is relevant to recall when the entire Hindi belt voted against Indira Gandhi in the seventies. It is Tamil Nadu and other southern states stood by her.
That affinity is now passed to her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi. The warring congress leaders, at the time of elections want Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi to come out campaign but when it comes to unity in the Party, they are at each others throat.
About six month ago, there was serious deliberations at the party high command to go it alone in 2011 elections to break the uninterrupted Dravidian rule with encouraging feedback that people of the state are sick and tired of Dravidian rule and are yearning for a change.
Even though the politics in Bihar and Tamil Nadu are totally different, the Party’s morale-shattering performance in the recent elections in the northern state put paid to party’s strategy.
Although this was not bad enough, allegations of corruption tumbling out one after the other, made the Party jittery. The Congress Party fears is that allegations of corruption against DMK Telecom Minister A Raja is in more ways than one is bound to have its impact on the voters preference.
Whatever the political churning takes place in the state, one thing the Party is clear on that is DMK needs Congress more than the other way round. At the time of writing, tough negotiations are on between Congress and the DMK. The Congress appears to be calling the shots demanding power-sharing, coordination Committee and 90 seats but the DMK is not willing to give more than 60. According to well informed party sources, the Congress is hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
In the worse scenario, the Party is prepared to go it alone striking alliance with smaller parties in the state. It is also believed that the Party leadership has been sounded to be prepared for any eventualities, but the mood within the Party is that the time is ripe for it going alone.
The Party leadership is confident that Congress could win enough number of seats to emerge as a king-maker. The question is whether how far the parting of ways would benefit Jayalalitha.
The track record of Jayalilatha as leader of the opposition is far from flattering. She is autocratic, unpredictable, and whimsical. She has not allowed any second rung of leadership to come up.
Whatever one may say in the extended Karunanidhi family there is huge power struggle. It is manifestation of inner party democracy. This is not visible in Jayalitha’s party. Moreover, she is still basking in the glory of MGR. This no longer works because, two generations who worshipped MGR are no more and a new breed voters who have not seen the matinee idol would be crucial in the elections this around.
Bosco Celestine is a senior editor of theindianawaaz.com