AIDMK

AIDMK & BJP

More and more news are coming in the daily papers on the bizarre acts and behaviou of the AIDMK chief Jayalalita. At an occasion she blurted out that she is willing and aiming at becoming the Trime Minister, after scuttling the Vajapeyee coalition. But there are no takers for it as of now. Still, one cannot predict as to how the present political situation might develop. In the past Charan Singh of a minuscule party in UP became PM for a few months without any majority in Parliament. He resigned even without calling Parliament in session. Similarly, the one time socialist Chandra Sekhar sat on PM’s chair for some days and went down without getting confirmation from the Parliament. Once again such travesty of representative government can be manufactured with Jayalalita on the chai. The lady is too much of a naïve that when she reached New Delhi on 12.4.1999, she took a suite in Maurya Sheraton costing more than three thousands per night. She also had the audacity to bring along the much vaunted Sasikala, who is charged with corruption and assault, in number of cases filed in Chennai courts.

Who is going to be impressed by this exhibition of pomposity and splendor? We will know within the next few days. The lady in all respects deserves to be shut up permanently from the political life of the country. One might expect this to happen during the next general elections. There are too many small parties in states, who are utterly, shameless and unscrupulous in their dealings with each other. They are not only corrupting the political stage but also in their material life. The people like Ramamurthy, one time president of Tamil Nadu Congress formed his one man party named after Rajiv Gandhi and joined with the communal outfit in the centre in order to be in power. The fun of it is the name of this party connecting Rajiv Gandhi who could not associated with any communal tag.

There are many more outfits upholding communalist positions in the name of caste and region. They have joined the BJP in power for their sectarian interest alone. The story of George Fernandez is the most fitting example. The man at one time fired by noble ideological position, is today turned out to be obsessed with anti-Nehru family feelings. To uphold the same, he has sacrificed all his high ideals of socialism, when he was a vibrant trade union leader in Bombay. This transformation is something pathetic to watch today. He was the one who thrumpeted Pokran II as well as the Agni missiles. His outbursts show that these tests were ordered and undertaken not as part of any defence requirements but solely to subdue criticism in domestic political sphere, to the policies adopted under the BJP coalition government. Neither China nor US and any other country for that matter got scared of Pokran II and Agni.

K.N.Krishnan.

16.4.1999.

BJP & Jayalalita.

One vote majority on 17.4.1999 voted out the BJP government. Almost all the comments around number by which the government failed. Some of the comments questioned the opposition as to their motive in voting the BJP out. There were comments as if the votes were in favour of Congress or in favour of corrupt Jaya. They specifically questioned the left about their anti-Congessism. None of them made any emphasis that the vote is really for or against the BJP led government and for or against Jaya or Congress. Some of the comments boarded on bizarre saying that there is visible alternative for a BJP led government. They also implied that a vote against it amounted to treason. There might not be any alternative as the vote was taken but the question could raised only after the result of voting. Just as in the case of AIDMK and DMK re-alignments might come in the other small parties based on the given situation. In the case of UP, Kalyan Singh created a majority for himself by purchasing legislatures from other sections against Mayawati. of BSP. Similar bargaining can be envisaged for an alternative government whether they succeed or not. AIDMK and DMK in turn demonstrated that in politics there are no friends and or enemies as far as the seats of power is nearer. The political outfits including left in the country convincingly demonstrated this. No one in opposition to the BJP alliance supports or justifies Jayalalita. On the other it was the high priests of morality, like BJP and Samata who did support and justified her up to last week. All the time they were hoping for Jayalalita to stay put with them. Suddenly, all those central government acts that allowed DMK’s Karunanithi against Jayalalita for corruption became null and void. DMK with its complicity in the Coimbatore blast case turned out to a moral model.

The hypocrisy of such behavior on the part of BJP combine is not a topic for commentaries. When the BJP all the while proclaimed loudly enough, theirs is an alliance earlier made for the last election and the present coalition is just a natural follow up. But it is being hidden today that the BJP-AIDMK joint front is a pre-election formulation with a promise to be together in government. It is the just and correct morality on the part of the BJP to resign from the government as soon as the alliance broke up. The AIDMK is the second largest in the BJP coalition next to its tally. they disregarded the brake and continued to depend on some speculative majority that would come out in support of their government. It was too cynical a hope and assertion. Still they have not learned the lesson that support and dependence on Jayalalita is not desirable but part of a power game. When commentators try to blame left parties who oppoed the BJP led government for being supportive of a corrupt Jayalalita, they are fostering a big lie on the public. Just prior to the election BJP used the glamour of corrupt Jayalalita with a promise to bring down the DMK for not keeping law and order in the state. There were repeated suggestions to remove DMK rule, which did not materialize, not for reasons of want. The BJP’s claim to be the principled is as immoral as that of Jayalalita claim for it.

K.N.Krishnan.

25.4.1999.