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PMK slides towards the BJP

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

When the four-member Pattali Makkal Katchi stated that it would withdraw its lone member in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and support it from outside, it came as no surprise.

The PMK said it would do it if Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader Vazhappadi K Ramamurthy was divested of the petroleum portfolio, reportedly under pressure from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham supremo J Jayalalitha.

The party also promised to continue support to the Bharatiya Janata Party if the AIADMK crossed over to the Congress before the next election, party founder S Ramadoss told the media on Monday.

"Ramamurthy was Jayalalitha's choice for the petroleum ministry when she negotiated our participation in the Vajpayee government with the BJP. Though at a late stage she offered it to the PMK before the ministers were sworn in, we didn't want to hurt Ramamurthy's feelings. But if Jayalalitha now wants the petroleum ministry, let the AIADMK have our berth as well," he said.

The PMK now has one minister of state, 'Dalit' Ezhilmalai, who is holding independent charge of the health ministry. The party has been promised another berth, and Ramadoss had publicly declared, as far back as April, that the party's Lok Sabha member from Vellore, P Shanmugam, would be the nominee. As is known, Shanmugam comes from the Vanniyar community, whom the PMK represents. And there has been minor ruffles within the party on the delay in his induction.

At the media meet, Ramadoss was quick to point out that neither he nor Ramamurthy had any confirmed information that Jayalalitha had made such a demand when she met Prime Minister Vajpayee in Delhi last week.

"The prime minister did not refer to any such demand from the AIADMK, either to me or Ramamurthy when we met him separately," Ramadoss said, adding, "The PMK decision is based only on media reports." He also clarified that the PMK would not withdraw support to the BJP, whatever be the immediate development.

"Our electoral alliance with the AIADMK stays even if Jayalalitha joins hands with the Congress next time," he said, adding that the PMK's support to the BJP would not be dropped if she changed track in between 'without elections'.

Asked for his comments on Jayalalitha keeping her 'options open', as stated by her in Delhi last week, he said, "I suggest she publicly states her continued support to the Vajpayee government for five years, as indecision and instability have affected development and the economy."

He also wanted Jayalalitha to demand the additional berths promised to the coalition partners from Tamil Nadu, and even press the case for more BJP ministers from the state.

"Already we have been promised a total of 10 ministers, and Jayalalitha could try to get one or two more BJP ministers from Tamil Nadu. That would be the best ministerial bargain the state ever gets. And if we can push infrastructural schemes for Tamil Nadu from within the Union government, Jayalalitha will automatically be returned chief minister in the next assembly election, when due."

Ramadoss felt hurt Jayalalitha had not invited him for her 'tea party' in Delhi first, and for being included in the guest list only after the BJP had been invited. "Anyone with self-respect will feel hurt," he said. He also made it clear that his 'suggestions' to Jayalalitha were being made through the media, and he would discuss it with her personally 'when the opportunity presented itself'.

He appears to be moving closer to the BJP and farther from the AIADMK. Already, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an AIADMK ally, was alienated, soon after Jayalalitha expressed suspicions about Vaiko's political ambitions and the electoral agenda involving the BJP. However, the PMK was still keeping its options open, since the AIADMK is a better bet than the BJP, in electoral terms.

An AIADMK source reacted to the PMK announcement, saying Ramadoss, as a leader of a party of the Vanniyar community, could not be expected to react any differently on an issue involving Ramamurthy, who is also from that community. Ramamurthy too was a close advisor of the PMK supremo.

"He too knows the PMK will need the AIADMK to win the election," the source said, pooh-poohing suggestions that Jayalalitha has been losing ground with her allies while trying to build bridges at the national level, within the BJP-led coalition or even outside it.

He also said there was no truth in the suggestion that Jayalalitha's Delhi trip was a scouting trip to find new allies, to give her 'bargaining power', be it with the BJP or the Congress. This, particularly since both the MDMK and the PMK are averse to doing business with the latter.

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