TMC leaders displeased by Veerendrakumar's appointment as Chidambaram deputy

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

It has gone mostly unnoticed elsewhere, but the Tamil Maanila Congress feels distinctly uncomfortable over the induction of Janata Dal leader M P Veerendrakumar as Union minister of state for finance. Party sources see it as an attempt by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to bridle Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, and to keep the TMC leadership on the 'right path' should they seek political adventurism.

Suave, calculative and ambitious, Veerendrakumar is seen as Deve Gowda's answer to Chidambaram, given the fact that the prime minister's hands are otherwise tied in a coalition of the United Front variety. Not many in the TMC has any idea about the man except that Veerendrakumar is one of the richest coffee planters in Kerala with an MBA from the USA.

A Lohiaite by conviction, he is a friend of the ruling Left Front in his state, controls Mathrubhoomi, the second highest-selling Malayalam daily and beat The Times of India group in its attempt to take over the newspaper. Though a minuscule minority in political terms, the Janata Dal in Kerala is under his thumb, Veerendrakumar having sidelined old war-horses like K Chandrasekharan and Arangil Sreedharan in recent times.

If he had not been considered for a ministerial berth by Gowda earlier, it was only because he was seen as a friend of former Karnataka chief minister and the prime minister's bete noire, Ramakrishna Hegde. He has since moved away from the Hegde camp, and becomes the first Keralite representative in the United Front government.

"This being his background, there is enough reason to suspect the motives behind Veerendrakumar's induction," says a TMC source. "Sections within the United Front and also sections within the industry are not happy with Chidambaram, and Veerendrakumar's induction as a junior minister of finance could only keep these groups happy."

Detractors of the TMC also expect Deve Gowda to use Veeerendrakumar to get at the bottom of the Indian Bank scam, in which some party leaders are said to be involved. "Like P V Narasimha Rao, Deve Gowda too has made corruption and cleanliness in public life, his political hobby-horse. The Indian Bank scam, if there is any truth in the varied allegations, could come in handy for him," says a source in the non-TMC camp.

In this context, the TMC source refers to Deve Gowda's continued suspicion of the party when it comes to supporting the government in crucial times. "He is obviously under the illusion that we may still team up with the Congress if the latter decides to stake its claim in forming a government after ousting the United Front regime."

Obviously again, adds this source, "Deve Gowda has not understood the mood of the TMC cadres and the public in the state. We cannot merge with the Congress. Nor is our leadership interested in frittering away an opportunity to try and form a government of our own in the state in coming years."

According to this source, it's Deve Gowda's fears and his consequent actions that could force the TMC's hand, if at all, not the other way round.