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Madurai is getting ready to host the function where the merger of the Congress and the Tamil Maanila Congress will be formalised.
Six years ago the Congress split and the TMC was born. Then prime minister and Congress president Narasimha Rao had decided to have an alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by J Jayalalithaa for the assembly elections in 1996. G K Moopanar, who did not approve of the alliance, broke away from the Congress to set up the TMC.
The TMC, in alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, swept the ensuing polls. The Congress did not win a single seat while the AIADMK bagged only four constituencies.
The TMC was also a partner in the United Front government at the Centre and their man, P Chidambaram, became the finance minister. Moopanar himself missed a chance to become prime minister when the Congress withdrew support to the Deve Gowda government. The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi, had scuttled his chances.
The TMC had reached its pinnacle in 1996 and from then on the downslide began. Then Moopanar died in 2001 and his son, G K Vasan, was made the party president.
Vasan's decision to merge with the Congress has been opposed by five legislators, who have chosen to remain in the TMC. Chidambaram has floated his own outfit.
The meeting where the merger will take place will be held around 8 km from the city. The area was used to cultivate rice, but as there is no water in the Periyar dam, it is lying vacant. The Congress has borrowed the land from the landlords.
Bulldozers have levelled the field and the entire area has been enclosed with iron corrugated sheets. Thousands of bamboo poles have been used to barricade the ground. VIPs, press, partymen, public, men, women, all have separate enclosures. There are various entry points for separate groups. The entrances are very narrow and people will have to file in a single row.
However, there is one big gate from where Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will enter. A small stage has been set up for her.
Gandhi is slated to address the meting at 1500 hours. She will fly to Pondicherry from where she will take a helicopter to Madurai.
The ground is well lit. The lights are the ones you normally find in a football ground. There are huge diesel generators all over the place. The road to the venue is littered with Congress flags.
On Tuesday there were more cops at the venue than people. This kind of security is generally enjoyed by the chief minister. The only difference was that the cops were in a relaxed mood. One cop who rode with us to the city was completely drunk. Cannot imagine the same if the chief minister was coming.
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