Jaya pulls back, but BJP rallies forth
All India Anna DMK general secretary
J Jayalalitha today declared that there was no threat to the
Vajpayee government and it was not facing any crisis.
Talking to newsmen after attending a function in Madras, Jayalalitha
said she had never threatened that her party would withdraw support
to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government at the Centre. Party presidium
chairman V R Nedunchezhiyan had made this clear, she pointed out.
The media was constantly harping on the AIADMK's threat to or
blackmail of the government. Blackmail was a demeaning term to
apply to her party. Moreover, the AIADMK had nothing to gain by
blackmailing the government, she added.
Asked if the Vajpayee government would last its full five year
term, Jayalalitha said: "I am not an astrologer."
She said the AIADMK's front-line leaders would receive
Vajpayee when he arrives in Madras on September 15 to
take part in the rally, organised by the Marumalarchi DMK
to celebrate the birth anniversary of the late chief minister, C N Annadurai.
It was wrong to project the parallel rally organised by the
AIADMK at Tiruchirapalli on the same day, as a clever move by her
to stay away from the MDMK function, she said.
The AIADMK, being the largest Dravidian party and named after
Annadurai, had been celebrating his anniversary on September 15
every year. No one could take away the party's right, she asserted.
Jayalalitha said the MDMK, which she termed as a
"five-year-old child", had never been a rival of the AIADMK.
Its only rival was the ruling DMK, she added.
Meanwhile, the BJP's unpleasant relationship with the AIADMK is likely to reach a flashpoint on September 15 when Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee attends the MDMK rally in Tamil Nadu.
Vajpayee, accompanied by Home Minister L K Advani and other BJP leaders, will
participate in the MDMK rally at Madras, organised to observe Anna's birth anniversary.
But the prime minister's first visit to Tamil Nadu amounts to openly challenging AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha on her own turf as she is organising a parallel rally on the same day at Tiruchirapalli.
BJP strategists claimed that the MDMK rally will be an occasion to "isolate Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu" and to bring together all other Dravidian parties including the ruling DMK under the BJP coalition umbrella.
"A realignment is taking place among the political parties in Tamil Nadu. But it is too early to predict
how it will affect our coalition government at the Centre," BJP vice-president O Rajagopal told Rediff
On The NeT.
He said the prime minister's decision to attend the MDMK rally was not meant "to insult
Jayalalitha." "The simple fact is that Jayalalitha did not invite the BJP leaders to participate in the
AIADMK rally at Tiruchirapalli. How is the prime minister expected to attend a programme
uninvited?" Rajagopal asked.
He said Vajpayee was a close friend of Annadurai and therefore it is natural
that the prime minister would attend a programme to celebrate his birthday.
But observers feel the Tamil Nadu rallies are of immense political significance because the BJP has
now emerged as the prime mover in the state's political realignment.
The BJP leadership anticipates that the MDMK rally will possibly split the AIADMK front and the MDMK,
along with the PMK and Chief Minister K Karunanidhi's DMK will come together to form a new
front in Tamil Nadu. "Jayalalitha is emerging as the enemy number one in Tamil Nadu both for the BJP
and all other Dravidian parties," a BJP leader pointed out.
The MDMK led by VaiKo broke away from the DMK and allied with Jayalalitha nearly five years back.
DMK chief Karunanidhi's increasing sympathy towards the BJP coalition government could thus,
also lead to a patch-up between the rivals -- the DMK and the MDMK.
But realising that the BJP leadership is not averse to the idea of dumping her, Jayalalitha on Tuesday attempted a hasty retreat from her long-standing threats to bring down the Vajpayee government.
But many believe Jayalalitha will one again become aggressive after the MDMK rally on September 15, when she realises that the AIADMK is being isolated by BJP and other Tamil Nadu parties.
Analysts say Jayalalitha is now resisting making any fresh demands and threats to pull down the
government, as her attempts to make peace with Congress president Sonia Gandhi has apparently
failed.
Jayalalitha's threats to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government on the Cauvery waters
row and on Karunanidhi's dismissal have considerably decreased in recent weeks.
But the BJP leadership feels its relations with the AIADMK has reached a point of no return and
therefore the Tamil Nadu rallies will probably change the shape of its coalition government at the
Centre.
George Iype, along with UNI
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